THE CITY Integrated Gender and Development Division (IGDD) recorded a total of 2,707 violence against women and children (VAWC) cases in 2023, a 45.2% increase from the 2022 data of 1,864 cases.
During the iSpeak forum on March 7, IGGD head Lorna Mandin noted this has been the highest VAWC cases recorded for the last 18 years.
“Within the last 18 years that we have continuously provided free legal services in IGDD 2023, is the year wherein we recorded the highest cases. During the pandemic time, it lowered down, for two and a half years, and got higher again in 2022. We assumed that for two and a half years, the access of women was limited, it piled up, then reported in 2023,” Mandin said.
Mandin said several reasons were also attributed to the increasing cases, such as “women prioritize their family first and often gave their spouses a chance to change before they seek help. ”
She also said the high level of awareness among women is also one of the reasons why the cases got higher in 2023.
“So, the high level of awareness among women would lead us to record more cases, because a lot of them know where to report and complain,” she added.
Based on the IGDD data, in 2023, 1,439 cases were economic abuse, 755 were psychological or emotional abuse, 463 were physical abuse cases, and 50 cases of sexual abuse.
The office also recorded the highest number of cases in the first quarter of 2023, with a total of 381 cases compared to 199 cases in 2022, in which the majority of the clients were walk-ins (1,341 walk-ins).
Mandin also said they continuously coordinated with inter-agency offices to further strengthen the services by installing women and children protection desks in police stations, women and children protection units in hospitals, as well as VAW desks in barangays.
“Our main challenge here is for us to continually respond and make innovations to address these issues,” she added.
