Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) Law through the Lenses of the Indigenous Leaders in the Cordilleras

Mary Jane Olaes-Najarila1,*

Author Affliations

1Saint Louis University, Baguio City
*[email protected]

Abstract

As part of a bigger study to find out the impact of Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (VAWC Law) on the lives of the Cordillera women, a partial investigation was made using the insight of indigenous leaders in the region. Fourteen years after its enactment, RA 9262 was deliberated in relation to whether or not it addresses the needs and problems of the indigenous women. Using key informant interviews and focus group discussion, three groups of respondents were asked using a similar interview schedule. Secondary data were gathered from journal articles and electronic resources. At the end, the indigenous leaders provided cultural contexts of the concept of violence against women and the traditional ways of solving them. One recommendation is to adapt these traditional mechanisms of avoiding and settling domestic violence in the mainstream process of law-making to come up with laws that are genuinely inclusive and gender-sensitive.