Law Protecting Women

27 laws passed concerning womens rights Among the significant laws were: - Republic Act 7877 or Anti-Sexual Harassment Act (1995) - Republic Act 8353 or Anti-Rape Law (1997) - Republic Act 9208 or Anti-Trafficking Act in Persons Act (2003) - Republic Act 9262 or Anti-violence against Women and Children Act (2004)

54-C, Mapagkawanggawa St., Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City, 1120 Postal Code

Room 6 Mezzanine Floor Manila Observatory Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines, 1168 Tel.: (632) 426-5921 loc 114 Tel/Fax: (632) 9293482 Email: escasia2003@yahoo.com

Womens suffrage Facts on Women

46.7 million, where are Filipino women, half of the countrys estimated 2010 population Labor force participation rate of around 49% Functional literacy of 86% Business administration: most common field of study 5.6%: proportion of women who have not gone to school Women comprised 23% of elective posts in 2008 From July 2001 until March 2003, the Senate and House of Representatives passed a total of 174 and 167 women-related bills, respectively Women in the national government numbered 640,304 in 2008 968,000 or about half of 2 million OFWs in 2008 were women 50% of women working abroad work as unskilled workers Cases of violence and abuse against women reported to the police rose to 9,485 in 2009 from 6,905 in 2008 Women comprise roughly half of the countrys registered voters The Comelec recorded a 77% voter turnout among women in 2001 The1935 Constitution specified that suffrage would only be granted to women if 300,000 voted in its favor during a national plebiscite (Hega, 2003) The number of women who voted yes during the plebiscite exceeded the number required, reaching 447,725 votes

Number of women voters

Citing Comelec figures, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported that in 2001, there were 18.3 million women against 17.9 million men voters. Voter turnout was about the same: 77% for women and 76% for men

Womens Issues During Elections

Disenfranchisement (sometimes due to family role and patriarchal society) Use of women and children by politicians during the campaign to convince voters to vote for them Warring political parties (with women often caught between parties because they are used during the campaign) Long queues in voting centers, and men sometimes taking advantage of women standing in line by making unwanted advances Vote buying and flying voters Electoral fraud and politicians broken promises