Discrimination Against Women Philippines, as a state party to the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, is doing

its part to comply with the necessary measures required for the implementation of the Convention. Article 1 is about the general definition of discrimination against women which provides: For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. The proper interpretation of the given definition matters in the compliance of the state to the requirement in relation to this article. The definition was said to embody a broad principle of equality. Thus, it is important to understand the close relationship between equality and non-discrimination. It is a legal definition that states are obligated to make part of their national normative framework when they ratify the Convention.1 The Philippine Constitution carries the equality guarantee of the Convention, but has not explicitly stated the non-discrimination guarantee. Though there is no enabling law that directly translates the Convention into national law defining discrimination against women and providing sanctions/ penalties for violation of the Convention,
2

the country has adopted

laws to correct the historical disadvantages of women in various aspects of life. These include laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, removing obstacles to womens entry into the police and the military, and criminalizing sexual harassment in educational and training environment and in the workplace.3 These are: a. RA 8353, or the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, which redefines and expands rape from being acrime against chastity to being a crime against person. It expands the definition to include not just penile penetration but also insertion of any object. It recognizes implicitly marital rape when it refers to cases where the offender is the legal husband. However, it extinguishes criminal action or penalty if the wife victim subsequently forgives the offender.

b. RA 8505, or the Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998, which establishes rape crisis centers in every province and municipality, to provide counseling, free legal assistance and ensure the privacy and safety of rape survivors. It also tasks government to train law enforcement officers, public prosecutors, lawyers, medico-legal officers, social workers and barangay officials on human rights and responsibilities, gender sensitivity and legal management of rape cases. The DSWD is convening an inter-agency committee for the implementation of the law. c. RA 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, which, is discussed in greater detail under Article 6, establishes policies, necessary institutional mechanisms, and sanctions and penalties to traffickers and the like so as to eliminate trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and protect and support trafficked persons. d. RA 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004, which is also discussed in Article 6, aims to protect women and their children from physical, psychological and economic abuses in the context of marital, dating or common-law relationships. However, it was explained in the country report that a legal definition of discrimination against women that is aligned with the definition in Article 1 of the Womens Convention has not been put into law. There is a need for wider awareness raising on what constitutes discrimination against women, what is implied by de facto equality between men and women and what forms part of the obligations of the State as well as private individuals and organizations to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of women. The target should include not only agents of the State - from legislators to law enforcers and program implementers- but also the citizenry or claimants of rights who are both men and women from across the various socio-economic groups. 4 It is also important to note that the definition in Article 1 includes not just direct or intentional discrimination, but any act that has the effect of creating or perpetuating inequality between men and women.
5

Reading Article 1s definition of discrimination alongside other

articles of CEDAW reveals that by intending to eliminate the de facto and de jure discrimination that any woman can suffer, the convention intends to achieve not only de jure equality but de facto equality not only between men and women and but also between women. The goal is social transformation, social change that goes far beyond legislative change, though including it. 6

References: 1. http://www.iwraw-ap.org/publications/doc/OPS14_Web.pdf
2. http://www.cedaw-watch.org/Responses_to_Pre_Session_Questions.pdf 3.http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/459/70/PDF/N0445970.pdf?OpenElement 4. http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N04/459/70/PDF/N0445970.pdf?OpenElement 5.http://cedaw-seasia.org/faq.html#whatdefinition 6. http://www.iwraw-ap.org/publications/doc/OPS14_Web.pdf