Complaints rise
Reports of violence against women (VAW) in Negros Oriental have risen this year, a police official said Tuesday.
Lt. Helen Aldirite, head of the Women and Children Protection Desk of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office, said during a Kapihan sa PIA forum here that for the first two months of this year, the Province recorded 18 more VAW incidents than it did in the same time last year.
NOPPO records showed 62 VAW incidents in January and February, compared to 44 during the same period in 2023.
Aldirite said more women are coming out in the open to report abuses, and file cases against their abusers.
She said interventions and other activities conducted by the police and other organizations have empowered them to fight for their rights.
“Over the past years, we have done a lot of interventions, such as dialogues, with women now educated on their rights and laws affecting them,” she said.
‘Domestic violence involving spouses’ tops the list of abuses against women, although Aldirite could not give specific figures.
Gemelyne Espina, program manager of the Department of the Interior & Local Government-Negros Oriental, said they conduct trainings on the benefits of a community savings program for women so that can become financially- independent .
Women tend to be abused by their husbands when the women are dependent on the main breadwinner, Espina lamented.
Hilton Edrial, head of the Provincial Social Welfare & Development Office, said that so far this year, they have assisted 84 women with psychological and medical examinations related to VAW.
Some P3 million have been allocated for psychological evaluations and trainings not just of women but inclusive of all sectors, such as children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQ, he said.
Aldirite and other forum panelists said a common reason of victims’ non-filing of cases is fear or the social stigma of being abused. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
