“A VAW-Free Philippines starts with us and in our workplace. It starts through raising awareness of our officials and staff on Violence Against Women and efforts to end it and establishing internal policies and guidelines that would protect the rights of women in the workplace,” said Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) Executive Director Atty. Tricia Clare A. Oco as the agency took part in the celebration of this year’s 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW).
In support to the Campaign, JJWC initiated activities to intensify awareness on the roles of everyone in the organization in the promotion of the rights and welfare of women and promotion of Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) on JJWC operations.
Part of these initiatives is the UNITEd for a VAW-Free Philippines – JJWC TikTok Challenge. This aimed to encourage JJWC Staff and Service Providers to discuss issues related to violence against women and their children and to generate recommendations for internal policies, code of conduct, and programs. The theme of the contest was centered on VAW-Free Philippines/Society and VAW-Free Workplace.
The submitted entries were judged based on Relevance to the theme – 30%, Creativity – 30%, Composition – 20%, and Uniqueness and Originality – 20%.
JJWC also had a Forum on Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion with Resource Person Dr. Finaflor F. Taylan, Director of the Office of Gender Concerns of the University of the Philippines Open University and Presentation of the JJWC’s Revised Guidelines on Sexual Harassment Cases by the JJWC Committee on Decorum and Investigation during the culminating activity of the Campaign on December 12, 2022.
Further, the National and Regional Secretariat conducted Focus Group Discussions in various Bahay Pag-Asa and other Youth Care Facilities nationwide to identify and analyze gender issues in the facilities from the perspective of adult-staff and children-residents.
