Push Admin

Supreme Court ruling on Anti-VAWC law 'sets dangerous precedent' - group

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Supreme Court building in Padre Faura, Manila on Aug. 24, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/02/13/20220824-supreme-court-facade-gc-2.jpg"/><figcaption>The Supreme Court building in Padre Faura, Manila on Aug. 24, 2022.<em> George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – A women&#x27;s group on Monday questioned the Supreme Court&#x27;s ruling that abusive mothers could be sued under the country&#x27;s Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act.</p><p>According to Joms Salvador, vice chairperson of Gabriela Philippines, the high court has &quot;entirely missed the whole point&quot; of the law, which recognizes that domestic violence is gendered.</p><p>&quot;The law is supposed to serve the interest of women who are historically and socially victims of cases of domestic abuse and domestic violence in the country,&quot; she told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Rundown&quot;.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s also a dangerous precedent to many other legislation that acknowledges the particular situation of women as majority of victims of violence, harassment and many other forms of abuse,&quot; she added.</p><p>For Salvador, the SC decision is a reversal of the hard-earned victory of Filipino women in legislating the Anti-VAWC law.</p><p>&quot;It is really saddening that the Supreme Court has seemingly nitpicked on the use of the word &#x27;person&#x27; in the law and interpreted it as saying that even men or non-women can use the law to seek protection order and to seek the benefits the law affords to women,&quot; she said.</p><p>In its ruling, the high court said &quot;violence against women and children&quot; was defined in the law as abusive acts &quot;committed by any person&quot;.</p><p>But Salvador stressed that parents could apply for remedies in other laws such as the law on child abuse.</p><p>The SC ruling stemmed from a 2017 petition filed by a man against his allegedly abusive wife on behalf of their underage daughter.</p><p>A Taguig City court dismissed the petition on the grounds that the law did not apply to an allegedly abusive mother.</p><p>But the high court ruled otherwise. It also noted that fathers are within their rights to file complaints on behalf of their children.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2464379" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Gabriela questioned the Supreme Court's ruling that abusive mothers could be sued under the country's Anti-VAWC law.