‘VAW-FREE COMMUNITY STARTS WITH ME’

ARLENE D. TOLENTINO

The aforementioned phrase is the theme of 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW) of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). The campaign is observed annually from November 25 to December 18.

The Department of Education (Dep. Ed) supports the said campaign by giving out instructions to its Gender and Development (GAD) Program leaders and coordinators to hold seminars related to VAW. Inter-School contests like flyer-making is also done.

The Department is well aware of the fact that even inside the school premises and under the watchful eyes of school administrators and teachers, violence against women can take in.

According to UNESCO(https:/ / e.n.unesco. org) , gender-based violence involves acts or threats of sexual, physical, or psychological violence occurring in and around schools, perpetrated because of gender norms and stereotypes, and enforced by unequal power dynamic.

Violence against women can lead to the victims’low self-esteem, self-doubt, fear, and depression. It can also affect their academic performance and their social lives. Aside from these, it can also be a gateway to pregnancy and to the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases.

Kudos to the DepEd for integrating seminars to educates students on VAW. there are times when women do not realize that they are being assaulted and even with mixed feelings and doubts, they just brush their experiences off, thinking that it is just normal that they feel uncomfortable.

Violence against women must not have its place inside the school grounds and in any other communities so that women can feel safe and they can feel that they are not judged for the fact that they are women.

— oOo—

The author is Teacher III at Diosdado Macapagal High School, Mexico, Pampanga