Bautista signs anti-catcalling ordinance

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(PAISO QC/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)

QUEZON CITY (PIA)--Mayor Herbert Bautista has signed into law the city’s amended gender and development code, making Quezon City the first local government in the country to penalize the street-level harassment of women.

The ordinance, also known as the anti-catcalling ordinance, imposes a fine and jail term for acts considered as sexual harassment of women in public spaces.

According Bautista, the primary objective of this law is to change the cultural mindset of males toward females while empowering women at the same time.

The law that also supplements other national laws that protect the interest of women such as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 as well as harmonize with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women.

Introduced by Councilor Lena Marie Juico, the ordinance was approved by the City Council on March 7 and signed into law by the Mayor on May 16.

Under the measure, light violations, such as cursing, catcalling, repeatedly asking the subject for a date or her contact number, or taunting a woman with constant talk about sex, which tend to ridicule, humiliate or embarrass the woman, are punishable with a fine of from Php 1,000 to P5,000 or a jail term of up to one month.

Stalking, making offensive mouth, hand or body gestures with the intention to demean or threaten a woman are considered medium violations with the same range of penalties.

Severe violations include acts such as unnecessary touching, pinching or brushing against the subject’s body; public masturbation or lascivious exhibition directed at a woman, and inserting any object into the genitalia, anus or mouth of any person whether of the same or opposite sex.

For a third offense, persons who commit light and medium violations will be jailed for 11 up to 30 days or asked to pay a fine of Php 5,000 while those who commit severe violations will be jailed from six months up to a year.

These penalties were the maximum allowed under the Local Government Code.

Female victims of sexual harassment may file a complaint in the women’s desk in police precincts. They can also seek help by calling the QCPD's Women and Child Protection hotline: 436-72-11.

To implement the city's measures on women and child protection in the community level, the city government has also operationalize Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children, and Violence against Women (VAW) desks.

The amendments to Quezon City’s gender and development code were introduced after a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), which chose Quezon City as one of the pilot areas for its Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Initiative.