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Ano ang seksuwal na panghahalay (sexual assault)?

Ang pag-unawa sa seksuwal na panghahalay ay makakatulong sa aming tumugon.

Ang iyong mga karapatan at opsiyon makalipas ang isang pag-atakeng sekswal

1800RESPECT

Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay anumang seksuwal o ginawang seksuwal (sexualized) na kilos na magreresulta upang ang isang tao ay makaramdam na hindi siya komportable, nasisindak o natatakot siya. Ito ay isang kilos na hindi inakit o pinili ng isang tao.

Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay isang pagkakanulo ng tiwala at pagkakaila sa karapatan na mayroon ang bawat tao upang magpasiya tungkol sa kung ano ang mangyayari sa kanyang katawan. Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay isang pang-aabuso ng karapatan at kapangyarihan.

Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay maaaring isagawa sa mga taong nasa wastong gulang at mga bata, babae, at lalaki, at mga taong iba't iba ang pinaggagalingan.

Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay maaari ring tawagin bilang seksuwal na pang-aabuso o seksuwal na karahasan. Ang mga salitang ginagamit upang ilarawan ang seksuwal na panghahalay, kagaya ng panggagahasa at seksuwal na pang-aabuso, ay parehong may pangkalahatang kahulugan kapag ginagamit sa pang-araw-araw na pag-uusap at isang partikular na kahulugan kapag ginagamit upang ilarawan ang partikular na mga kriminal na seksuwal na pagkakasala (criminal sexual offense). Sa website na ito, ginagamit namin ang mga salita sa pangkalahatang paraan at upang magbigay ng pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang.

Kung sa tingin mo na ginawa ang isang kriminal na seksuwal na pagkakasala at gusto mong magreklamo, maaaring naisin mong humiling ng karagdagang payo. Magagawa mo ito sa pamamagitan ng pagkontak sa serbisyo para sa seksuwal na panghahalay sa iyong lugar [sa Ingles] , sa pulis, iyong doktor o isang pribadong abogado. Maaaring isang salik (factor) ang oras at ang mga serbisyong ito ay makakapagbigay ng impormasyon tungkol sa mga karapatan at mga opsiyon.

Nangyayari ang seksuwal na panghahalay sa maraming anyo

Ang pag-unawa kung ano ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay tumutulong sa amin upang tumugon kapag binunyag ng isang kaibigan, miyembro ng pamilya o kliyente na sila ay hinalay. Ang sumusunod na listahan ay ilang mga halimbawa ng seksuwal na panghahalay:

Seksuwal na panliligalig.

Hindi gustong paghipo o paghalik.

Pinuwersa o pinilit na mga seksuwal na aktibidad o mga aktibidad na kaugnay sa pagtatalik, kabilang ang mga aktibidad na nagsasangkot ng karahasan o pananakit.

Paglalantad ng mga ari katulad ng 'flashing'.

Paniniktik (stalking)

Pinapanood ng isang tao na wala ang iyong pahintulot kapag ikaw ay nakahubad o nagsasagawa ng mga seksuwal na aktibidad.

Ang pagpapaskil ng mga seksuwal na imahe sa Internet nang wala ang iyong pagsang-ayon.

Pinuwersa o pinilit ng isang tao na manood o sumali sa pornograpiya.

Pag-spike ng mga inumin, o paggamit ng mga droga o alkohol, upang mabawasan o pahinain ang kakayahan ng isang tao na gumawa ng mga pagpipilian tungkol sa pakikipagtalik o seksuwal na aktibidad.

Pakikipagtalik sa isang taong tulog, o labis na apektado ng alkohol at/o iba pang mga gamot.

Malaswa o nagpapahiwatig ng kahalayang mga biro, kuwento o pagpapakita ng mga ginawang seksuwal na mga litrato, bilang bahagi ng isang pattern ng namimilit, nananakot o mapagsamantalang pag-uugali.

Panggagahasa (ang pagtagos ng anumang butas gamit ang anumang bagay)

Ang 'pag-groom" ng isang bata o taong mahina upang makisali sa mga seksuwal na aktibidad ng anumang uri.

Anumang seksuwal na kilos kasama ng isang bata.

Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay hindi pareho ng seksuwal na pagpapahayag. Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay isang hindi gustong mga seksuwal na pag-uugali o kilos na gumagamit ng pananakot, pamimilit, o puwersa upang gamitin ang kapangyarihan o ipagkaila ang karapatan ng isang tao upang pumili. Ang seksuwal na panghahalay o pang-aabuso ay maaaring isang beses na pangyayari, o bahagi ng isang pattern ng karahasan. Ito ay may isang hanay ng mga epekto, kabilang ang pisikal, emosyonal at sikolohikal na mga epekto.

Mga katotohanan tungkol sa seksuwal na panghahalay

Naririto ang ilang mahalagang bagay na dapat malaman tungkol sa seksuwal na panghahalay:

Karamihan sa mga seksuwal na panghahalay ay isinasagawa ng mga lalaki laban sa mga babae at mga bata.

Nakakaranas rin ang mga lalaki ng seksuwal na panghahalay; na karamihang isinasagawa ng iba pang mga lalaki.

Karamihan sa mga taong nakakaranas ng seksuwal na panghahalay ay kilala, o nakilala kamakailan lang, ang tagagawa ng panghahalay.

Ang ilang mga kilos ng seksuwal na panghahalay ay mga kriminal na pagkakasala (criminal offense) rin.

Ang pag-ulat sa pulis ay maaaring isang mahirap na desisyon. Ang mga limitasyon ng ating sistema ng hustisya, at ang paraan kung paano kinokolekta ang ebidensiya ay maaaring nakakatakot harapin.

Ang reaksiyon ng mga taong nakakaranas ng seksuwal na panghahalay ay maaaring iba-iba, paminsan-minsan mayroon silang matinding emosyon, paminsan-minsan umuurong sila. Ang pag-unawa sa trauma ng karahasan sa pagitan ng mga tao ay makakatulong sa ating tumugon sa angkop sa paraan.

Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay isang pang-aabuso ng mga kawalan ng balanse ng kapangyarihan na umiiral sa lipunan.

Karamihan sa mga seksuwal na panghahalay ay hindi iniuulat sa pulis.

Ang mga epekto ng seksuwal na panghahalay

Ang karahasan sa pagitan ng mga tao, katulad ng seksuwal na panghahalay, ay kabilang sa pinakatraumatikong pangyayari na mararanasan ng isang tao. Ang pagtugon sa mga agarang pangangailangan ng biktima/nakaligtas sa pamamagitan ng paniniwala sa kanila at pagtrato nito nang seryoso, ay makakatulong upang mabawasan ang karagdagang pinsala. Ang pagpapatuloy sa pagsuporta sa mga tao habang gumagaling sila ay napakamahalaga rin, at mahalagang gawin ito sa sarili nilang paraan at sa sarili nilang panahon.

Kung gusto mo ng karagdagang impormasyon sa pagsuporta sa biktima/nakaligtas, tingnan ang pahina ng Paano susuportahan ang isang taong nakaranas ng seksuwal na panghahalay .

Paano ko susuportahan ang isang taong nakakaranas ng seksuwal na panghahalay?

Karaniwan ang seksuwal na panghahalay – humigit-kumulang isa sa limang babae ay makakaranas ng seksuwal na panghahalay. May mga praktikal na bagay na magagawa mo upang makatulong.

Developed with: Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault

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Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women and Girls: Bakit may ganito?

Sep 01, 2021

By : Created in Partnership with Tiffany Jalalon Sprague

“Sa Pilipinas, 1 sa 20 kababaihan edad 15-49 years old ang nakakaranas ng pang-aabusong sexual.” (2017 National Demographics and Health survey)

Ano ang sexual harassment at violence?

Ito ang hindi kanais-nais na pagkilos o pananalita sa isang sexual at malaswang paraan. Sa ganitong mga kaso, palaging may harasser na pinipilit o kino-coerce ang kanyang mga biktima upang makuha ang sariling sexual needs. Tinatanggal ng harasser ang karapatan ng biktima na magdesisyon para sa sarili niyang katawan.

Ilan sa mga halimbawa nito ang verbal harassment (tulad ng catcalling at wolf-whistling na madalas nangyayari sa mga kalye), rape o ang pag-penetrate sa sex organ ng isang tao nang walang consent o pahintulot, panghihipo o paghawak sa katawan ng ibang tao, at ang pagpapakita ng private parts sa ibang tao kahit na labag ito sa kanilang kagustuhan.

Sa bawat kwento ng sexual harassment at violence, hindi ginusto o hiningi ng biktima ang pang-aabusong nangyari sa kanya. Kahit na sino ay pwedeng makaranas nito, ngunit makikita sa mga datos na ang mga kababaihan at kabataan ang pinakananganganib na maging biktima.

Malaki ang epekto ng sexual harassment at violence sa mga taong nakakaranas nito.

Palagi nating naririnig na puno ng pasa at sugat ang katawan ng mga biktima, lalo na sa kanilang private parts. Ngunit hindi natin masyadong napapansin ang mga psychological na epekto nito, tulad ng pagkakaroon ng depression at pagpapakamatay. Mas malaki rin ang posibilidad na maadik sa droga, alak, at sigarilyo ang mga biktima dahil sa bigat ng trauma na kanilang nararanasan.

Pwede ring makita ang epekto nito sa pang-araw-araw na buhay at pagkilos ng mga biktima. Marami ang nahihirapang bumalik sa trabaho o paaralan upang mamuhay nang normal. Meron ding mga romantic at platonic relationships na nasisira dahil nawawalan ng tiwala ang mga biktima sa mga taong nasa paligid nila. At dahil na rin sa trauma na dala ng karanasang ito, marami ang nahihirapang bumuo ng magandang kinabukasan para sa kanilang sarili.

Madalas, kung sino pa ang malapit sa mga biktima , sila pa ang nang-ha-harass o nang-aabuso .

Pwedeng sila ay kaibigan, boyfriend/girlfriend, katrabaho, kapit-bahay, o kamag-anak ng biktima. Madalas ay hindi na-re-report ang ganitong klase ng harassment dahil sa takot at kahihiyan, o dahil hindi sila pinapaniwalaan ng ibang tao. Ito ang isang dahilan kung bakit hanggang ngayon maraming harasser pa rin ang malaya at maganda ang buhay.

Talagang matindi ang pangangailangan na mawala ang mga harasser at matigil ang krimen na ito, upang hindi na tayo mabuhay sa isang mundo na puno ng takot. Pero para mangyari ito, dapat alamin muna natin kung bakit nagiging harasser ang isang tao.

Bakit nga ba may mga sexual harasser ?

May tinatawag na “ risk factors ” o ang mga dahilan kung bakit lumalaki ang posibilidad na maging harasser ang isang tao. Ang halimbawa ng mga dahilang ito ay:

Ang paggamit ng alak at droga;
ang pagkilos sa agresibong paraan na nakakasakit sa ibang tao;
ang exposure sa mga sexual na mensahe o media;
ang hypermasculinity, o ang pagtanggap sa mga tradisyonal at toxic na paniniwala pagdating sa pagiging “tunay na lalaki”;
pagkakaroon ng hindi magandang relasyon sa pamilya (lalo na sa ama);
pag-te-take advantage o pagiging mapang-abusong kaibigan o kasintahan;
pagiging apektado ng kahirapan at kawalan ng trabaho
ang pagmamaliit ng mga lalaki sa kababaihan.

Kung mabibigyan ng solusyon ang risk factors na ito, pwede nating maiwasan ang pagkakaroon ng mga harasser at mabawasan ang mga biktima ng sexual harassment at violence.

Dapat nating tandaan na mawawala ang karahasan kung…

Mawawala ang karahasan kung habang maliit pa lamang, tinuturo na sa mga kabataan ang respeto, malasakit, permiso o consent mula sa ibang tao, at pagkakapantay-pantay . Kausapin natin ang mga bata habang maaga pa lamang para maintindihan na nila ang toxic na sistema sa lipunan at hindi na nila madala ito sa paglaki.

Mawawala ang karahasan kung walang gagamit ng sariling kapangyarihan upang manakit ng ibang tao. Hindi dapat ginagamit ang sariling estado o antas sa buhay upang maliitin at abusuhin ang ibang tao.

Mawawala ang karahasan kung pakikinggan natin ang boses ng mga nabiktima ng sexual violence, upang hindi na ito maulit muli. Kung patuloy na isasawalang-bahala ang kwento ng mga biktima, patuloy ring lalakas ang loob ng mga harasser.

Mawawala ang karahasan kung gagawa tayo ng mga safe space para sa mga kababaihan at kabataan . Sa physical o online man na espasyo, dapat mabigyan sila ng kapangyarihan na ibahagi ang kanilang mga iniisip o nararamdaman.

Mawawala ang karahasan kung epektibo at patas ang mga batas laban sa sexual violence. Sikapin dapat ng gobyerno at lawmakers na mailabas ang katotohanan at mabigyang hustisya at lunas ang mga biktima.

Mawawala ang karahasan kung magiging mabuting halimbawa tayo sa isa’t isa . Sa anumang sitwasyon, responsibilidad natin ang maging magandang impluwensya sa ating pamilya, kaibigan, at kapwa.

At higit sa lahat: mawawala ang karahasan kung walang mang-ha-harass, mananamantala, at manggagahasa.

Makikita natin na pagdating sa problema ng sexual violence, hindi lamang iisa ang solusyon o paraan upang mapigilan ang krimeng ito. Kinakailangan ng patuloy na pagtutulungan at pananagutan sa pagitan ng bawat tao, ng kanyang pamilya at komunidad, ng mga paaralan at opisina, at ng gobyerno para tuluyan nang maging ligtas ang ating kapaligiran.

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#violence-against-women

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Ano Ang Sexual Harassment?

May maraming anyo ang sexual harassment at pwedeng mangyari ito sa maski anong lugar o sitwasyon, sa babae man o lalaki. Hindi lang panghihipo ang maituturing na sexual harassment. Kabilang din dito ang bullying na nakakasakit ng tao sa pamamagitan ng mga sekswal o malisyosong mga biro, komento, chismis, o kilos na tungkol o nakadirekta sa ibang tao.

Kung biktima ng sexual harassment, tandaan na hindi mo ito kasalanan. Ano pa man ang kilos o suot ng isang tao, hindi ‘yon imbitasyon para bastusin sa kahit anong paraan.

Kung nakakaranas ng sexual harassment, magsabi sa pinagkakatiwalaang kaibigan o pamilya, o kaya i-report sa awtoridad.

Narito ang isang video na hinanda namin para pag-usapan ang topic na ito.

Sa tulong ng the Australian and New Zealand Association (ANZA), mayroon na tayo ngayong mga libre at tamang impormasyon tungkol sa sexual at reproductive health — sa wikang mas pamilyar sa atin– sa pamamagitan ng mga Amaze.org videos na isinalin sa Tagalog!

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I-like, i-share, at mag-subscribe sa Ugat ng Kalusugan Youtube Channel para updated ka sa mga bagong videos: https://bit.ly/3ELvEcw

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bawal bastos: pilipino ay magalang

Join the movement to end gender-based sexual harassment and violence..

Browse through the campaign resources below and advocate for #SafeSpacesNow.

Recognising the role of media in the promotion of Safe Spaces for all, the ‘Bawal Bastos: Pilipino ay Magalang’ initiative by Plan International Philippines makes available various information, education and communication materials for organisations to promote and use on digital and traditional media platforms.

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

In 2019, the Philippines passed the Safe Spaces Act (SSA), a law that protects girls and young women from getting harassed in public spaces, in the workplace, in educational and training institutions, and online. Dubbed the “Bawal Bastos Law”, SSA defines gender-based sexual harassment (GBSH) in streets, public spaces, online, workplaces, and educational or training institutions.

Plan International Philippines aims to support and work with various partners to promote and protect the rights of women and children through an awareness campaign.

The ‘Bawal Bastos: Pilipino ay Magalang’ initiative aims to contribute to the localisation of the law through campaign materials designed for digital and traditional media. Organisations and individuals are encouraged to use these materials for dissemination in their respective channels to strengthen visibility and raise awareness for the Safe Spaces Act.

What is the Safe Spaces Act?

The Safe Spaces Act or the Bawal Bastos Law penalises all forms of gender-based sexual harassment in streets and public spaces, including workplaces and schools, as well as in online spaces.

The crimes of gender-based sexual harassment (GBSH) are committed through any unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks against any person regardless of the motive.

Take action.

You can take a stand by:

Empowering everyone against gender-based violence and sexual harassment,
Campaigning for solidarity in making spaces safe for all people,
Report incidents of gender-based violence and sexual harassment that you witness.

Everyone has the responsibility to respect the rights of other people. Everyone has a role to play in ending GBSH. Dahil lahat may magagawa, lahat makikinabang.

Downloadables.

Anyone can use the ‘Bawal Bastos: Pilipino ay Magalang’ materials. These materials should work to help raise awareness on what constitutes gender-based violence and sexual harassment and how to report or respond accordingly, by providing clear information on the available reporting mechanisms and support pathways. They can be used:

On social media
On visible spaces (i.e., public transport vehicles, communal areas, hallways, etc.)
As handouts to employees, students, commuters, mall-goers, etc.
As resources for webinars, trainings, and other capacity-building activities

partner with us

For inquiries on collaboration and other concerns about this program, you may reach out to:

Kassandra Barnes Communications Specialist, Plan International Philippines [email protected]

IF YOU ARE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER, CALL 911 OR CONTACT PNP HOTLINE AND WCPC: (632)8532 66 90 | ALENG PULIS HOTLINE: 0919 777 7377

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The many faces of sexual harassment in PH

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

The many faces of sexual harassment in PH

MANILA, Philippines – President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is under fire after wolf whistling at a reporter in a press conference on Tuesday, May 31, and defending it days after by saying that it was “not a sexual thing.”

A good number of netizens accept Duterte’s explanation that whistling at a woman is covered by freedom of expression. Others are certain that Duterte violated Davao City’s ordinance prohibiting catcalling women .

What constitutes sexual harassment? Where do you draw the line?

What is sexual harassment?

In Section 3, Republic Act 7877, or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, classifies sexual harassment as:

Work-related or in employment environment

This is committed when a person demands, requests, or requires sexual favors from another person in exchange for another thing such as hiring for employment, re-employment, or continued employment, granting favorable compensation, terms of conditions, promotions, or privileges.

Refusal to accept sexual favors would mean discrimination or deprivation of employment opportunities.

It is also sexual harassment if the sexual favors would result to abuse of rights under the labor law and and an environment that is intimidating, hostile, or offensive for the victim.

This may be committed by an “employer, employee, manager, supervisor, agent of the employer, any other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a work environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other.”

In education or training environment

This is committed when a person demands, requests, or requires sexual favors from a student in exchange for “giving a passing grade, or the granting of honors and scholarships, or the payment of a stipend, allowance or other benefits, privileges and considerations.”

Just the same, if the sexual favors would result to an “intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for the student, trainee, or apprentice,” they are also considered sexual harassment.

This may be committed by a “teacher, instructor, professor, coach, trainor, or any other person who, having authority, influence, or moral ascendancy over another…demands, requests, or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other.”

Under the Civil Service Commission Resolution Number 01-0940 , a set of administrative rules for government employees, forms of sexual harassment include:

malicious touching
overt sexual advances
gestures with lewd insinuation
requests or demands for sexual favors, and lurid remarks
use of objects, pictures or graphics, letters or writing notes with sexual underpinnings
other forms analogous to the ones mentioned

Meanwhile, the Women’s Development Code of Davao City, which Duterte himself signed as mayor, aims to protect the rights of women by punishing those who committ sexual harassment, among other things.

Under Section 3 of the ordinance, “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, made directly, indirectly or impliedly” can be considered sexual harassment.

The following are considered forms of sexual harassment:

persistent telling of offensive jokes, such as green jokes or other analogous statements to someone who finds them offensive or humiliating
taunting a person with constant talk about sex and sexual innuendos
displaying offensive or lewd pictures and publications in the workplace
interrogating someone about sexual activities or private life during interviews for employment, scholarship grant, or any lawful activity applied for
making offensive hand or body gestures at someone
repeatedly asking for dates despite verbal rejection
staring or leering maliciously
touching, pinching, or brushing up against someone’s body unnecessarily or deliberately
kissing or embracing someone against her will
requesting sexual favors in exchange for a good grade, obtaining a good job or promotion, etc
cursing, whistling, or calling a woman in public with words having dirty connotations or implications which tend to ridicule, humiliate or embarrass the woman such as “puta” (prostitute), “boring,” “peste” (pest), etc
any other unnecessary acts during physical examinations
requiring women to wear suggestive or provocative attire during interviews for job hiring, promotion, and admission

Street harassment is among the most common forms of sexual harassment. (READ: The streets that haunt Filipino women )

Sexual harassment in public spaces: “Unwanted comments, gestures, and actions forced on a stranger in a public place without their consent and is directed at them because of their actual or perceived sex, gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.” – Stop Street Harassment Organization

Street harassment can happen in public places, such as in and around public transportation, public washrooms, church, internet shops, parks, stores and malls, school grounds, terminals, and waiting sheds.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority , sexual harassment may happen in the following:

premises of the workplace or office or of the school or training institution
any place where the parties are found, as a result of work or education or training responsibilities or relations
work- or education- or training-related social functions
while on official business outside the office or school or training institution or during work- or school- or training-related travel
at official conferences, fora, symposia, or training sessions
by telephone, cellular phone, fax machine, or electronic mail

Women are most vulnerable

STREET HARASSMENT. Have you ever walked down the street and experienced verbal, physical, or sexual harassment?

The Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act , also known as Republic Act 9262, also considers sexual harassment as a form of violence against women.

Section 3 of the law says that sexual violence refers to “rape, sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, treating a woman or her child as a sex object, making demeaning and sexually suggestive remarks.”

A 2016 study conducted by the Social Weather Stations found that women are most vulnerable to sexual harassment.

In Quezon City, Metro Manila’s biggest city with a population of over 3 million, 3 in 5 women were sexually harassed at least once in their lifetime, according to the report. In barangays Payatas and Bagong Silangan, 88% of respondents ages 18 to 24 experienced street harassment at least once.

Across all ages, 12 to 55 and above, wolf whistling and catcalling are the most experienced cases. (READ: ‘Hi, sexy!’ is not a compliment )

Quezon City is the first city in Metro Manila to impose penalties on street harassment.

In the Philippines, 58% of incidents of sexual harassment happen on the streets, major roads, and eskinitas (alleys). Physical forms of sexual harassment occur mostly in public transport.

Sexual harassment can be punished under Republic Act 7877, or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, and the provisions of the Revised Penal Code on Acts of Lasciviousness.

RA 7877 penalizes sexual harassment with imprisonment of 1 to 6 months, a fine of P10,000 to P20,000, or both. Acts of lasciviousness, on the other hand, would mean imprisonment under the Revised Penal Code. – Rappler.com

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Victim Blaming Culture in the Philippines: A Hindering Factor to the Unresolved Battles of Sexual Abused Individuals

Sexual Abused victim-survivors are often met with a barrage of questions after coming forward. Famously, “what were you wearing?” is one of them (Ramos, 2021). Many of the Sexual Abused Victims were afraid of coming forward as they fear of being re-victimized by the Victim Blaming Culture. Through this study, the researchers explore the experiences and struggles of sexually abused individuals towards the victim blaming culture to determine the assumption of the researchers that the victim blaming culture is one factor in the unresolved battles of Sexual Abused Individuals. The researchers used qualitative research with open-ended questions through Google Form as the main instrument to gather data from five chosen informants around the Philippines. Within the study, there were three research questions formed. The first problem is to determine how the Victim Blaming Culture manifests in the lives of Filipino people. The second problem was how Victim Blaming Culture hampers the progress of the Sexual Abuse cases in the Philippines. The last problem aimed to know the deep emotions and mental struggles the Victims of Sexual Abuse have encountered after becoming a victim of Victim Blaming. The researchers have made use of coding to interpret the statements of the informants. Results show that victim blaming culture is a hindering factor to the unresolved battles of Sexual Abuse Victims. It made them build a social barrier to distance themselves from society and undergo mental struggles. With this said, it was recommended for the Government to exert efforts to solve this issue to prevent victims from encountering victim blaming culture. Keywords: Victim Blaming Culture, Sexual Abuse, Social Barrier, Mental Struggles

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Karen Quing

Correspondence *Corresponding Author. Email: [email protected] Abstract Sexual violence is a catastrophic phenomenon that most women encounter worldwide. However, the stigma surrounding the victims of sexual violence often leads to a culture of silence, causing the number of such cases to be underreported, leading to limited sexual violence-related studies. With this, the goal of this study is to contribute additional information on the experiences of Filipino victims with sexual violence, its impacts, and their coping mechanisms. Ten Filipino women, who were victims of sexual violence, were interviewed in this study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the gathered data. Themes on their experiences, the effects of sexual violence, and their coping mechanisms were formulated and presented in this study. The study showed that the most common type of sexual violence experienced by the participants was rape. They also reported feelings of fear during and after the abuse. Feelings of...

University of Birmingham

Dr Jessica Taylor

Victim blaming and self-blame are common experiences for women who have been subjected to sexual violence (Gravelin, Beirnat & Bucher, 2019). This thesis employs a comprehensive mixed-methods approach from a critical realist feminist epistemology. Chapter one introduces victim blaming and self-blame of women, including rationale for the language and terminology used in this thesis. Chapter two presents a review of the literature of victim blaming of women and chapter three sets out the methodology of the thesis. Chapter four presents the exploration and initial development of a new measure of victim Blaming of Women Subjected to Sexual Violence and Abuse (BOWSVA Scale). Chapter five and six present two qualitative studies exploring the language used to construct the victim blaming and self-blame of women, the first study from the perspective of women subjected to sexual violence and the second from the perspective of professionals who work in sexual violence support. The three studies result in a final discussion proposing a new integrated model of victim blaming of women and further findings about the victim blaming of women in society, self-blame of women after sexual violence and the way language constructs the blame of women.

Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Research in Social Sciences and Humanities Universitas Indonesia Conference (APRISH 2019)

Prof. Billy Sarwono

MD GOLAM AZAM

Rape is being alarming condition in Bangladesh day by day. It is the most common and vicious form of violence against woman in Bangladesh. Rape culture and the practice of victim blaming are inherently linked phenomena, the existence of a rape culture which normalizes sexual violence and blames rape victims for the attacks against them create cultural violence in Bangladesh. Along with the trauma experienced by rape victims due to their assault, many victims also suffer secondary victimization due to the negative reactions of those around them. Among these negative reactions, perhaps the most damaging is the tendency to blame victims for their assault, particularly in cases of acquaintance rape. The current research explores the role of rape culture coverage in promoting a victim blaming culture in the Bangladesh. In Study, I review the literature related to rape and rape culture in order to identify factors and influences contributing to rape-supportive beliefs and behaviors in society at large, including the ways in which women’s lives are impacted by the constant threat of rape and how male socialization contributes to and normalizes this threat. Then I try to explore about factors of rape culture in Bangladesh society based on discourse and content analyses of online comments on report related to rape and rape cultures. The study also emphasis on victim of the rape, blaming the victims, denial of gender aspects violence, denial of rape culture, anti- feminism etc. In Study, I demonstrated that people’s victim blaming tendencies by analysis of comments on social media. Specifically, following exposure to rape related news, participants were more likely to blame the victim of an unrelated case of sexual assault, and to endorse rape myths. The findings of this research demonstrate public perception of rape victims, particularly victims of acquaintance rape. In this study, I also demonstrated about the relation between rape culture and cultural violence. I try to prove here existing rape culture contribute in cultural violence by the increase of sexual assaults, victim blaming, dehumanization of women.

Rajagiri Journal of Social Sciences

Simply because she is a female the average Indian woman is likely to be variously a victim of feticide, infanticide, malnourishment, dowry, child marriage, maternal mortality, domestic servitude, prostitution, rape, honor killings and/or domestic violence. The stereo types of perception for the rape victims which are highly prevalent in a society like India prevent the rehabilitation of the victim back into society. Social workers are a part of the multidisciplinary team which works in a scenario both to prevent instances of rape and at the same time is responsible for the effective rehabilitation of the victims back into society. However, the prejudiced mindset of the social worker will affect the rehab services which are being provided to the victims and also to the perpetrators. It hence becomes mandatory to analyse social life to understand the prevalence of rape myth acceptance and victim blaming attitudes which are prevalent among social workers. This study compares the prevalence of rape myth acceptance and victim-blaming attitudes among male and female social work trainees. It was revealed that the female respondents have a slightly more negative attitude towards the victims as compared to the male respondents. The fact however remains that both male and female respondents were victim blaming and had rape myth acceptance attitudes. This in turn points to the prevalence of poor quality professional social services which adversely affect the rehabilitation of the rape victims.

Anuradha Parasar

Millennium Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN: 2708-8022 (ONLINE) 2708-8014 (PRINT)

Gender discrimination against women is a prevalent issue in Bangladesh, but sometimes it is concealed. Rape cases, also known as-sexual abuse‖ in many cultures, are a special insidious type of sexual harassment. In other contexts, when you are familiarizing with the lifestyle of women, as a social worker it is likely to see victims of sexual abuse due to a large number of abusive offenders. Global WHO figures suggest that about 1 in 3 (35%) of women around the world endure physical and sexually intimate relationships or non-partner sexual abuse during their lives. Domestic abuse is the most heinous form of violence. Approximately one third (30%) of all women who have a relationship comment on physical and sexual harassment witnessed by their intimate partner nationwide. This review investigates several peer-reviewed journals and articles that have been developed for the comprehensive understanding of domestic abuse as rape. Still, this issue of rape must be addressed within and outside the scope of domestic violence. More experiments are conducted with a focus for future studies. The major argument of this review is that while raped women are suffering from the permanent effects of psychological and emotional damage, the issue of rape is not the problem of women. It is squarely a man's problem. As a society, victim allegation is preached as a flame, but the issue is with ancestors and older generations' minds and opinions. On a conclusive note, strategies for rape prevention have been discussed. It is crucial to recognize and increasingly teach young children about the effects of sexual harassment and how traditions can be changed to avoid social stigma.

Istanbul University - DergiPark

Tutut Chusniyah

Natti Ronel , Prof. Jaishankar Karupannan , Moshe Bensimon

The following chapters are grouped in three sections: Justice for victims, issues of sexual victimization, and illustrated examples of victimization. The first section targets perception and the process of change in perception as they affect victimology and justice for victims. In Chapter One, Noach Milgram postulated that ideology is inherent in perception and critical in understanding the mind set of victims. Ideology, whether manifest or below awareness, contributes to the construction of perceptions and proactive and reactive behavior. Noach provides innovative and provocative illustrations of the power of ideology in his studies on battered women and victims of Palestinian terrorism. Uri Timor proposes in Chapter Two a different view by challenging the perceptions that underlie etributive punishment. Uri presents an alternative solution to the conflict between offender and victim that is based on Jewish theoretical formulations and restorative approaches. He advocates transferring at least partial responsibility for the offender-victim conflict to the prevailing social order; this recommendation is consistent with Jewish tradition attributing to the community some degree of responsibility for the transgressions that take place within its confines. Esther Shachaf-Friedman and Uri Timor present in Chapter Three, findings from a study of victims’ perceptions in family–group conferences with juvenile delinquents. Based on the analysis of these perceptions, Esthi and Uri suggest practical guidelines to prepare and implement restorative justice processes in victim-focused intervention. The same pragmatic victim-needs and rights approach was presented by Sharon Aharoni-Goldenberg and Yael Wilchek-Aviad in Chapter Four on restitution to victims of property offences. Victim-focused restitution is contrasted with the prevalent legal procedures applied to property offenders that do not help the direct victims, according to Sharon and Yael. In the fifth and final chapter in this section, K. Jaishankar, P. Madhava Soma Sundaram and Debarati Halder describe and discuss the position of the victim in ancient, medieval, British and modern India; the authors analyze the role of Malimath Committee in restoring the forgotten voices of crime victims in the Indian criminal justice system. Jai, Madhavan and Debarati illustrate the process of change that a developing society goes through when attempting to adopt the thought of modern victimology, and at the same time, to integrate it with ancient Indian wisdom. Sexual harm and offences usually leave distinctive mark on individuals who were sexually victimized. The sexual violation of intrapersonal intimacy calls for particular understanding and intervention. The second section addresses this issue specifically. Yifat Bitton offers in Chapter Six a feminist perception of the treatment of women victims of sexual violence in the justice system that is needed to prevent further victimization and to overcome the consequences of the initial victimization. Yifat calls for reorientation of tort litigation to enable women victims of sexual violence to reclaim the power that was brutally taken from them. Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg highlights the gap between therapeutic dialogue and legal dialogue in Chapter Seven and calls for accommodating existing judicial processes to the unique needs of sexual assault victims. Hadar suggests that while the adversarial system of judicial procedures is likely to remain, it must undergo reforms that will advance therapeutic goals in behalf of the victims. Inna Levy and Sarah Ben-David broadens in Chapter Eight the discussion on sexual victimization by focusing on a neglected group, the “innocent” bystanders. Reviewing theoretical and empirical literature, Inna and Sarah address the way bystanders are perceived and offer models of bystander blaming. In Chapter Nine, P. Madhava Soma Sundaram, K. Jaishankar and Megha Desai address sexual harassment in the modern work places in India. In their empirical pilot research, Madhavan, Jai and Megha describe the prevalence and characteristics of sexual harassment in a major Indian city, Mumbai. In the final chapter of this section, Chapter Ten, Sarah Ben-David and Ili Goldberg present the results of a study of male prisoners. Their study establishes the relationship of past traumatizing experiences in sexual offenders, their PTSD symptoms and drug dependency, and their own perpetration of sexual crimes. Sarah and Ili found that prisoners who were sexually abused in the past and who developed a cognitive avoidance style tended to become sexual offenders as adults, while those who developed drug dependency tend to exhibit non-specific criminal behavior. The third section of the book illustrates and analyses several examples of victimization. In an empirical research design, Avital Laufer and Mally Shechory investigated in Chapter Eleven distress levels in Israeli youth, 18 months after they were forced to leave their homes during the Israeli government mandated disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Avital and Mally found direct relationships between perception of the traumatic experience, feelings of alienation, and distress level. In Chapter Twelve, Nandini Rai presents a novel focus on known phenomena. She offers a socio-geographical analysis of the distribution of criminal victimization from the perspective of places with specific identities. Nandini asserts that reduced social interaction and a decline in mutual trust in the society make the places of interaction unsafe. In Chapter Thirteen, Ehud Bodner reviews the major factors in the etiology of suicide among soldiers and in the failure of professional authorities to provide help to soldiers at risk. Soldiers who attempt suicide may be perceived and consequently treated as disturbed youth who are trying to manipulate others rather than as victims of their own suffering. Ehud presents some practical suggestions for the prevention of suicidal behaviors in soldiers. K. Jaishankar, Megha Desai and P. Madhava Soma Sundaram target in Chapter Fourteen the stalking phenomenon in India and relate this form of victimization to a transformation in social-cultural perception of this phenomenon. Jai, Megha and Madhavan present results from a survey of college students that indicate patterns of repeated intrusions and harassment techniques. They document victim reluctance to report this behavior, and effects of stalking on the victims. In the closing chapter in this section, Chapter Fifteen, Brenda Geiger presents a qualitative research of domestically abused Druze women, a group whose voice is rarely heard. These women have to struggle on two fronts: (a) to content with their abusive spouses; and (b) to contend with the context-relevant ideology, norms and perceptions of their extended families. Their family attempts to force them to reconcile with the abusive spouse and to reconcile themselves to continued abuse. As Noach Milgram indicated in the opening chapter of this book, ideology may deny the natural human rights of victims. Brenda presents, however, an optimistic picture of the struggle of abused Druze women and their successful claim for rights and power.

Frontiers in Psychology

Juan M Rodríguez-díaz

Several studies have examined victim blaming in rape scenarios. However, there is limited research on the analysis of the perception of blame when two or more perpetrators are involved. The present article explores the perception of blame in cases involving rape based on the level of resistance shown by the victim and the presence of one or more perpetrators. A study was carried out involving 351 university students who responded to a survey after reading a hypothetical assault scenario. Six situations were established where the victim showed either low or high resistance, depending on whether the resistance was verbal or physical and verbal, and in the presence of one or two male perpetrators. It is expected that perpetrators are more culpable when acting in groups and that less resistance from the victim leads to greater attribution of blame. The results confirm that more blame is attributed to the perpetrators when they act in groups than when they act alone. Likewise, women cons...

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Filipino Children and Adolescents’ Stories of Sexual Abuse: Narrative Types and Consequences

Nora maria elena t. osmeña.

1 Psychology Department, Negros Oriental State University, Dumaguete City, Philippines

Dan Jerome S. Barrera

2 College of Criminal Justice Education, Negros Oriental State University, Dumaguete City, Philippines

There is a paucity of qualitative research on children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of their sexual abuse experiences. This paper aims to describe the narrative types and consequences of sexual abuse stories among ten female Filipino children and adolescents. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using dialogical narrative analysis. Results show that three narrative types appear in the stories of the survivors. These are the tragic resistance narrative, rescued slave narrative, and heroic saga narrative, and each of these narratives has idiosyncratic effects on the identities, affiliations, disclosure, and adjustment processes of the participants. The results show how symbolic cultural structures can have far-reaching consequences on sexually abused children and adolescents.

Introduction

Sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence remains a prevalent social problem. A worldwide estimate shows that 13% of girls and 6% of boys experience sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence (Barth et al. 2013 ). As a result, they experience debilitating adverse mental, psychological, physical, and health effects (Amado et al. 2015 ; Hillberg et al. 2011 ; Maniglio 2009 ; Norman et al. 2012 ; Teicher and Samson 2016 ). In the Philippines, a national survey shows that the lifetime prevalence of child and youth sexual abuse is 21.5% - 24.7% for boys and 18.2% for girls (CWC and UNICEF 2016 ). These reported abuses are a bit higher than some worldwide estimates, and they even lead to early smoking, sex, and pregnancy, having multiple partners, substance use, and suicide among the victims (Ramiro et al. 2010 ). Despite this information, research on children’s and adolescents’ narratives on sexual abuse in the Philippines gathered through qualitative approaches t is limited (Roche 2017 ). This gap is not surprising because systematic reviews show that only a handful of extant studies have analyzed children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of their sexual abuse experiences (Morrison et al. 2018 ; Watkins-Kagebein et al. 2019 ). The bulk of the literature on children and adolescents’ sexual abuse experiences comes from retrospective accounts of adult survivors (Alaggia et al. 2019 ; Tener and Murphy 2015 ), which may differ from children’s and adolescents’ themselves due to recall bias, participants’ advanced developmental phase, and other factors (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Morrison et al. 2018 ; Watkins-Kagebein et al. 2019 ).

Nevertheless, there has been a recent surge of interest in studying young victims’/survivors’ sexual abuse accounts. These studies documented the emotional experiences of children and adolescents, including their fear, anger, pain, worry, and coping strategies (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; McElvaney et al. 2014 ; San Diego 2011 ; Schönbucher et al. 2012 ); the disclosure processes and their barriers and facilitators (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Jackson et al. 2015 ; Jensen et al. 2005 ; McElvaney et al. 2014 ; Schaeffer et al. 2011 ; Schönbucher et al. 2012 ); and the subjects’ healing journey through therapeutic processes (Capella et al. 2016 ; Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; San Diego 2011 ). Besides the emotional aspects, secondary victimization in the justice system (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Capella et al. 2016 ) also manifested in the reports.

However, what remains underexplored in these studies and adult retrospections are the meso-level factors that affect post-sexual abuse emotions, reactions (e.g., disclosures), coping and adjustment, and identity work. One example at the meso-level is culture (Sanjeevi et al. 2018 ). In their review, Sanjeevi et al. ( 2018 , p. 631) note that studying culture is essential to “provide culturally competent and culturally valid services” to children and adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse. However, this inquiry line is underdeveloped as most culturally-oriented studies have either studied culture as practices (e.g., ways of raising a child, sleeping arrangements, child marriage) or beliefs (e.g., beliefs on what constitutes sexual abuse). A treatment of culture as a system of symbols is absent in child sexual abuse literature, especially in studies of children and adolescents’ accounts of their sexual abuse experiences. In this study, we treat culture as “a structure of symbolic sets” that “provide[s] a nonmaterial structure” of actions by “creating patterned order, lines of consistency in human actions” (Alexander and Smith 1993 , p. 156). Furthermore, a narrative is an example of a symbol. Narratives are culturally available resources and structures (e.g., tragedy, romance, comedy) with which people construct their personal stories (Frank 2010 ). Furthermore, narrative analysis makes these narrative types visible (Wong and Breheny 2018 ).

The narrative approach has not been extensively used in sexual abuse studies. Although few studies employ this methodology (e.g., Capella et al. 2016 ; Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Harvey et al. 2000 ; Hunter 2010 ), these studies were more thematic. They focused more on the ‘what”s’ of storytelling and neglected the ‘how’s’ (Gubrium and Holstein 2009 ). Thus, there is a need for other narrative approaches like dialogical and structural (Riessman 2008 ). We argue that Arthur Frank’s ( 2010 , 2012 ) socio-narratology and dialogical narrative analysis can fill this void.

Socio-narratology views stories not just as retrospective devices of representing the past but also prospective ones that interpellate people to assume identities, affiliate/disaffiliate from others and do things (Frank 2010 , 2012 ). As Alameddine ( 2009 : 450) notes: “Events matter little, only stories of those events affect us.” This view tends to find support in some narrative psychologists’ (e.g., Bruner 1987 ; Polkinghorne 1988 ) and philosophers’ (Carr 1986 ; MacIntyre 1981 ; Ricoeur 1984 ) stand on the power of stories in people’s lives. As Polkinghorne ( 1988 , p. 145) posited, life/action is the “living narrative expression of a personal and social life. The competence to understand a series of episodes as part of our story informs our own decisions to engage in actions that move us toward a desired ending.” Polkinghorne added that stories and narratives provide us with models for the self, action, and life, and we use these models to plan our actions and assume identities.

This paper aims to describe the narrative types and consequences of sexual abuse stories among ten female Filipino children and adolescents. We argue that cultural symbols in the form of narratives describe phenomena through personal stories, and they also tend to influence emotions and actions. This perspective, we believe, is also applicable to children’s and adolescents’ stories and experiences of sexual abuse. Narrative types can be visible from these stories of sexual abuse, which have material effects on disclosure processes, emotions, coping, identity work, and behavioral and social adjustment of children and adolescents who have had the experience.

Methodology

The researchers sought to capture data by profiling the Filipino children’s and adolescents’ lives before, during, and after experiencing sexual abuse through semi-structured interviews. The participants were contacted and recruited through a temporary government-controlled crisis center in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines, where they were housed. Of the twelve participant interviews, only ten were analyzed because two participants did not answer some questions critical to the analysis.

Table Table1 1 shows the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants. As shown, most of the participants were sexually abused in their adolescence (10–19) by family members with whom they lived at the time of the abuse. At the time of the interview, all of them had studied for at least 3 years when the abuse started.

Socio-demographic charateristics of the participants

Data Gathering Procedures

After having been granted the ethics board approval, consent from the government agency that controlled the center, the caregivers, and the participants was obtained. Contacts with the target participants were developed through the said government agency, which had personal information in the center. The target participants were then informed about the nature of the study and its purpose and were also asked about their willingness to participate. They were briefed on the confidentiality of the information gathered from them and the anonymity of their identity. Those who opted to participate were requested to sign informed consent forms and to indicate their preferred schedule and place of interview, which could be any place conducive.

The study utilized face-to-face semi-structured interviews, which were conducted by the lead author and employing narrative interviewing techniques (Jovchelovitch and Bauer 2000 ). A debriefing to prevent the recurrence of trauma was given to the participant right after every interview, which could last for 30 min to one-and-a-half hours. All audio-recorded interviews were password-secured and were only transcribed and translated by language-proficient staff and verified by the researchers for accuracy and consistency. For ethical reasons, participants’ names and other information were kept anonymous and replaced with pseudonyms.

Dialogical Narrative Analysis

Frank ( 2010 , 2012 ) coupled socio-narratology with his methodological technique – dialogical narrative analysis (DNA). DNA is a heuristic guide in analyzing stories. It is a combination of thematic, structural, and dialogical analyses (Smith 2016 ). DNA “studies the mirroring between what is told in the story – the story’s content – and what happens as a result of telling that story – its effects” (Frank 2010 , pp. 71–72). In other words, DNA is concerned with the content of stories and their effects on selves, affiliations, and actions. Although Frank ( 2010 , 2012 ) intended DNA to be heuristic in nature, there are phases of the analysis that can be implemented (see also Caddick 2016 ; Smith 2016 ). However, these phases are not necessarily linearly followed: even in a later phase, one can always return to the initial ones.

The present analysis started with getting the story phase done by the first researcher. Here, the stories in each interview were identified using Labov and Waletzky’s ( 1967 ) structural model of narratives. Then, the getting to grips with the stories phase was implemented by the two researchers. Indwelling with the data by listening to the audios and reading the transcripts several times was done at this phase. Also, narrative themes, relationships among themes, and the structure of the stories were identified. The opening up analytical dialogue phase followed by asking dialogical questions by the two authors directed towards the narratives identified (Frank 2012 ). This makes DNA unique from other analyses. Dialogical questions include resource questions, affiliation questions, and identity questions. Finally, pulling the analysis together phase was done by choosing among the five forms of DNA, the best way to structure the results. We chose to build a narrative typology as our approach. Narrative types are ‘the most general storyline[s] that can be recognized underlying the plot and tensions of particular stories’ (Frank 1995 : 75). After weeks of analysis, the data revealed three narrative types and their consequences, which are discussed in the next section.

The Narrative Types

This section shows that there are three significant narratives to which the participants of this study subscribe. These narratives are tragic resistance narrative, rescued slave narrative, and heroic saga narrative . The most common among these are the tragic resistance and the rescued slave narratives. The heroic saga narrative serves as a contesting narrative against the dominant ones. We will also show that these narratives interpellate the participants to assume particular identities (selves), connect or disconnect from alliances, and do things for and on them.

Tragic Resistance Narrative

Its structure.

A common narrative emplotted by some of the participants is the tragic resistance narrative. This narrative starts with some favorable situations, followed by a disruption in the form of sexual abuse. Due to fear of negative consequences, the participants subscribing to this narrative tended not to disclose their victimization. Moreover, if they disclosed, they did it covertly with those outside the family. This does not mean, however, that they did not do anything against the offender. They tended to make subtle but covert resistance against the abusers. This narrative has this structure: “Girls live a normal life. It is made horrible when they are raped. However, they could not disclose it because they fear that their resistance might fail as the abuser might retaliate.” This narrative appears to be a derivative of the culturally available rape myths such as “No woman can do much about rape” (Gordon and Riger 1989 ; Plummer 2003 ). Also, fear of retaliation among the sexual abuse victims in the Philippines circulates culturally (Hunt and Gatbonton 2000 ). Previous research also documents fears experienced by children and adolescents due to their abusive experiences (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; McElvaney et al. 2014 ; Schönbucher et al. 2012 ).

One example of this kind of narrative is a story told by Mary, who was raped by her father. She said,

That night, he came home very drunk. My brother and I only slept side by side in the sala of our house. Then my father laid down in between my brother and me and started to undress me. I said, “No, Pa,” but he held a knife and said that he would kill me if I refused. So, he succeeded in undressing me and finally raped me. When he inserted his penis into my vagina, it was very painful. It happened when I have not even had my first menstruation yet. When I tried to move, he would threaten me with the knife.

Mary did not continue to resist because of the threat made by her father to kill her if she would fight. She emplotted her experience in a tragic resistance narrative yet did not offer more resistance. Other participants’ stories unfolded through this type of narrative. Ana, for instance, shared this story:

One time when my Mama left, my father and my siblings were left at home. Then he [stepfather] attempted to rape me, but I shouted, and it was on time that my Mama came back. So Mama had the incident blottered. My stepfather was so mad. Eventually, he was put behind bars because my godmother, who was a policewoman, helped us. We went home to Zamboanguita because we were in Bayawan during that time. We did not know that he was temporarily freed but he was able to post bail. He came back and planned to kill us all. He murdered Mama, who was pregnant. I was almost killed too. He almost killed Lolo. If Lolo was not able to kill him, all of us could have been killed. Lolo killed him at that time.

Ana related that she screamed when her stepfather attempted to rape her and her mother reported it to the police. Then, the offender was arrested and detained. However, such resistance was tragic. When the offender was able to post bail, he retaliated and killed her pregnant mother and almost killed her, but her grandfather eventually killed him. This tragic resistance created extreme fear in her as she relayed, “.. . that is what I fear. Because of me, my family would kill each other.”

Jess took the same narrative to describe her initial resistance against her stepfather. It was not her stepfather, however, who foiled her resistance. It was her mother. Her mother prevented Jess’s attempt to resist. She said: “He abused me every night, and if I said no, he would go wild. I was angry with my Mama because she did not believe me.”

Tragic Resistance Narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

With the tragic resistance narrative, the participants experienced what Freeman ( 2010 ) calls narrative foreclosure , wherein one believes that he or she has no or little prospect for the future. This is detrimental to the self. Some participants experienced hopelessness and even considered committing suicide. This kind of narrative led them to offer little (covert) or no resistance against subsequent abuses. They even became emotionally attached to their abusers.

Dirty and Foreclosed Self

When asked what she felt immediately after the abuse, Jess described herself as

“Filthy. I considered myself filthy because my being had been devastated by a person who was good for nothing .”

She also felt that her future was foreclosed as she lamented,

“I felt hopeless. I felt like I was already totally hopeless. I can’t think of any solution to the problem during that time. I thought there was nobody who could help me because I was hesitant to tell anybody.”

Ana and Mary had the same thought about themselves immediately after the repeated sexual abuse. And after a considerable number of years, they still felt marred by such molestations, although not as intense as immediately after the incidents. For instance, Mary still felt her womanhood tarnished:

“Sometimes, I feel I am the filthiest person. My father sexually abused me.”

Ana had a similar struggle with herself even long after the event. She continued to experience confusion about herself.

Interviewer: Let me ask you this, “How is Ana?” Ana: Tired. Interviewer: What makes Ana tired? Ana: It’s like I do not understand myself.

“Yes, we see each other because her peers are also our classmates, but we feel nothing more than friends. She would just tell me to take care, then we go our separate ways. She asked me why I get attracted to girls. I said I am not attracted to girls; I get attracted to boyish girls. I used to get attracted to boys, but now I hate them. I never had feelings towards lesbians before. When a cousin of mine got into a relationship with a lesbian, I even admonished her from getting involved with the same sex. I wonder why I have changed. Ate Lyn even asked me why I got into a relationship with a girl.”

Emotional Attachment with the Abuser

The tragic resistance narrative invites the participants to build an emotional attachment with the abusers. This is in line with some qualitative research that documented children’s conflicted feelings toward their abusers (Morrison et al. 2018 ). Probably, this is to prevent any harmful retaliatory acts from the abuser towards the abused or to their significant others or to make the abusers believe that they were not resisting.

For instance, after she was abused for the first time, Ana lived with her uncle; she was again raped by her cousin. This time, she did not resist her cousin overtly after the death of her mother and her unborn child, which resulted from her previous overt resistance against her stepfather. Instead, she built a close relationship with her cousin and his family with which she was living. When asked about the frequentness of being abused by her cousin, Ana said:

“He did it to me, maybe two or three times in a month. Sometimes I got insulted because he would bring his girlfriend, and still continued to abuse me. (But) I had high respect for him as an older brother.”

Ana may have been “insulted” or probably jealous that her cousin had a girlfriend whom he brought latter to their house. This indicates her attachment with the abuser, which is also manifested in the last sentence, where she expressed her respect towards him as her elder brother. Ana treated him as part of her family and considered his family her own; in fact, she even participated in their family drinking sessions and became drunk at times. And just like Ana, Mary also became attached to her father, who raped her repeatedly. This was because she was concerned with what could happen to him if she would leave him. She said:

“He even told me that he wanted me for his wife because women avoid him. After all, he bathes only once a week. He smells foul and dirty. I was the one who did his laundry. Our neighbors kept on telling me to finish my studies so that I could get away from him. But it is difficult to leave him. I am concerned about him because every time he got drunk, he would wake up everybody and put a fight.”

Subtle Resistance and Disclosure

A tragic narrative calls one for inaction because of fear (Smith 2005 ). It curtails any hope for the future and halts one from advancing towards it. Similar things occurred among some of the participants. Despite the abuses, they stayed with their abusers. That is why they experienced repeated sexual abuse. Their actions were enactions dictated by the emplotted narrative of their experiences of abuse (Frank 2010 ). Their actions became dialogical copies of their narrative. Nevertheless, instead of not doing anything, they made subtle resistance and disclosure. They expressed their agency strategically in a covert way, possibly, to avoid retaliation from the offender.

Ana, for instance, feigned a pregnancy after experiencing repeated abuses. This was a very strategic ploy. It was effective and, at the same time, did not require her to create a disorder in the family; although, there were still risks associated with it. She shared:

“At the end of December, I pretentiously told him I was pregnant to stop him from raping me. He was terrified, and he did stop raping me. He even gave me some pills, but I did not take them.”

On the other hand, Kay employed playful covert resistance. She used jokes against her abuser, although it had no similar effect as that of Ana’s. For example, she said,

“Mama’s brother used to carry a gun and has abused me several times - five times already. At times, I would jokingly tell him: “You know, I will report what happened; I will report you, Uncle, to the police station.” But, he wasn’t thinking that I was joking. I asked him, “Uncle, how many times have you done it to me already? Do you remember you stripped me naked, you removed my panty and my skirt and then kissed me in the mouth, my breasts, and licked my bottom?” After that, he warned me: “Do not to tell your father, mother, and my older brother -- because if you do, I will shoot them.” I said, “Yes, Uncle, I understand.” I was crying at that time.”

In this case, the participants made subtle disclosures – although not within their immediate family. They disclosed to their friends, neighbors, and the police. Mary opened to her neighbors (boarders), who were also caught in a tragic resistance narrative. This time, it is the neighbor’s daughter who was almost raped by her drunk father. But they did not report it to the authorities. She shared this:

“They asked me what my father did to me, but I did not answer them; I only cried. They said it would be New Year so I should have a new life and should not be staying at home always. That prompted me to tell them what happened to me. They asked me how I should deal with the situation. That was it; they were also afraid to report to the police because my father warned that whoever will help me, will be killed. He also warned of killing my brother and me if I would tell anybody about the incident.”

Ana made a similar kind of disclosure to the mother of her best friend. She did not disclose it to her uncle, who supported her, because she feared that a similar tragic event in her family would occur again. Ana said:

Interviewer: Did you tell anybody? Ana: I didn’t tell anyone except the mother of my best friend whom I trusted most. Interviewer: What prompted you to tell? Ana: Because I could no longer bear the thought that even his father can do the same to me when we were supposed to be kins. So I told the mother of my classmate, and she even cried.

Rescued Slave Narrative

Another common narrative invoked by the participants is the rescued slave narrative. This is a progressive type of narrative (Gergen and Gergen 1988 ). Emancipation was the key theme in this narrative: emancipation from the bondage of sex slavery and other forms of oppression. However, this emancipation was not the participants’ initiative but of other people and a Higher Being. The agency on the part of the participants was minimal, especially in terms of disclosure and resistance. This narrative’s typical structure is: “Women are subjected to slavery and other forms of oppression. They become martyr slaves and break down inside. Somebody rescues them, and they are freed from the bondage of their abusers.”

Joy had employed this kind of narrative. She was repeatedly raped by her grandfather as if she were a sex slave. She broke down and cried. She was asked why and then she disclosed. Then, some people helped her get her grandfather arrested and incarcerated.

“The first time I got raped was when I was eight years old. Since then, I was raped by my Lolo several times. I never told anyone about it because he warned me not to. Every time he gets drunk, he would rape me. One time, my Lola's sibling was in the house, and my nephews and nieces, Lolo started to rape me. However, I cried, so they asked me why I was crying. It was then that I told them about it. They helped me get my abuser jailed.”

This rescued slave narrative tends to be a mimetic copy of her slave narrative before the sexual abuses occurred. The same is also true with the other participants who employed this kind of narrative. Their narrative of the abuses was dialogical (Frank 2010 ) because it cohered with the narratives of their lives before the abuses. We can see that Joy’s slave narrative during the abuses formed a dialogue with her narrative of her experiences before the abuses. Both narratives cohered. Joy shared that before the abuses happened,

“I used to babysit my nephew and niece. When I get home, I would fetch water. And sometimes, I get home late after traveling on foot because we had no money to pay for a ride from school which was quite a distance, and I get whipped, and the child of my Lola (grand) would hit me on the head when I commit an offense."

The participants used the same type of slave narrative to emplot the abuses but in a progressive mode due to the rescue being made by others.

Jean, likewise, used the same rescued slave narrative. She experienced trauma after her employer abused her, and she seldom talked with her co-workers; she was in shock and absent-minded. It was her boyfriend and her mother who rescued her. She recounted her rescue moment:

“I was already at home one evening. My boyfriend noticed that I wasn’t my usual self and appeared bothered. Then I confided to him about the abuse. The following day my mother went to the police to report.”

Meanwhile, Bem had a similar narrative:

Interviewer: What prompted you, Bem, to speak up? Who was the first person you have spoken to? Bem: My aunt. Interviewer: Why did you speak up? Bem: They confronted me, saying, “Bem, we heard stories that your brother has molested you.” I said, “Yes, Auntie, and I don’t know why.” And she said to me, “Just don’t tell him; we will just report it.”

It was only when her aunt confronted Bem that she disclosed. This was typical in the rescued slave narrative. These participants were powerless, martyr victims. They broke down, and people noticed their depressive symptoms and then asked them why, and that was when they eventually disclosed.

Rescued Slave narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

The participants who employed the rescued slave narrative saw themselves as powerless against the oppressive forces which perpetrated sexual abuses and other forms of torment. But, they were rescued after others noticed the pain they just kept inside them. This type of narrative has profound effects on the self, relationships, and actions of these participants.

Rescued Slave Identity

On the other hand, some participants in this study also assumed the rescued slave identity. With this identification, they felt relieved to have been freed from their oppressors. Some frequently heard words in these narratives include “makagawas ” (to be free), “move on,” and “ nahuwasan ” (relieved). Another participant named Kat reported that,

“After arriving here (crisis center), I felt relaxed because nobody bothers me anymore, especially at night. I am thrilled to learn that I have many companions here who are also victims like me. I thought I was the only one who had experienced such an ordeal. I am happy because no matter what, there are people who could help.”

This kind of narrative was also captured in the stories of Joy. She recounted that she was happy after leaving the house of her abusive grandfather. She said:

“I am happy I have left the house of my Lolo and met some people here in the city. In here (crisis center), I feel like they are my family.”

However, this narrative only indicates that the abused just keep a physical distance away from their abusers. Like in the account of Joy, this physical or spatial dimension only allowed them to escape in space but not in memories. The stigma associated with their slave identity remained, and getting rescued would not wipe away the stains. This slave identity still dwells in them. After being rescued, Joy again employed the same type of narrative, this time in another form of oppression:

“Where I used to stay was quite okay, but I still felt a little sad because the sibling of my auntie was a bit nosy on me and my personal belongings and went around telling unpleasant and unreal things about me. Now I am okay that I am out of that place.”

Kim had a similar experience of oppression after being freed from sexual abuse. He could not escape the stigma of having a slave identity, and neither could he escape its enslaving memories . Like Kim, Jean recounted these memories:

“I am attempting to disregard what happened. I want to move on now. But I could not avoid remembering it, mostly since our courses now talk about court cases. So, I would have no reactions; I keep quiet, and I do not study the lessons. However, I try to overcome it as much as I could.”

Disaffiliation from the Abusers

Within the tragic resistance narrative , the participants developed an emotional attachment with the abusers; on the contrary, the participants were disaffiliated or disconnected from their abusers and connected with those who rescued them in the rescued slave narrative . The participants were happy to have escaped from the control of their abusers and tried as much as possible to keep their distance from them. All they wanted was for the abusers to be punished.

While Joy was delighted to leave her grandfather’s house, Bem also learned that her father had known the abuses done by his brother towards her when she was still 5 years old; however, instead of standing by her side, he blamed her and calling her slutty. This changed Bem’s perception of her father, so she decided not to stay with them anymore.

As for Jean’s abuser’s daughter-in-law, who befriended her on Facebook :

“I want this case to be resolved, especially that he has not been arrested and is currently free. On Facebook, his daughter-in-law sent a friend request to me. I wonder how she knew my Facebook profile and why she sent a friend request. I just disregard her.”

Therefore, the participants were disaffiliated from their abusers, and those they believed were their cohorts. They executed what the rescued slave narrative demands, and this is to separate and leave their abusers in space as traditional slave rescue dictates. As a result, they became more connected with their heroes who rescued them.

Emotional Resistance and Disclosure

The classic slave narrative demands that the slaves be submissive to their masters and be martyrs regardless of the oppression and abuses (Jacobs 2009 ). This narrative had a profound impact on some of the participants. They executed what this narrative demands and played martyrs to the repeated sexual abuses.

This action prevented them from initiating the disclosure process; however, this does not mean that they did not participate in the disclosure process. Although their rescuers initiated the disclosure by asking and confronting them upon seeing them in distress, the participants were truly part of the ritual. The participants’ emotional manifestations of anxiety, depression, and shock were part of the slave narrative. Apparently, they used these to let others know that there was something wrong with them. This cue invited the “heroes” to make sense of their tormenting situation and initiate the disclosure process. Such is what happened to Joy in her previous recount “…so they asked me why I was crying. It was then that I told them about it. They helped me get my abuser jailed.” Her aching emotions were a form of resistance and disclosure, albeit not in words.

Heroic Saga Narrative

The last of the narrative types is the heroic saga narrative. Here, the protagonist is characterized as undergoing a “continuous array of battles against the powers of darkness” (Gergen and Gergen 1988 : 26). This character experiences a series of ups and downs; the theme is progressive but ends in success. This narrative is generally “an adventure tale with several stops where the protagonist encounters trials, oppositions, and challenges but overcomes such testing and emerges as victorious.” This narrative serves as a counter-story to the most dominant and common narratives - tragic resistance and rescued slave narratives. Specifically, only one participant in this study emplotted her experiences through this narrative. May had a similar and could be a much worse experience than some of the participants. She was molested repeatedly by multiple offenders. Unfortunately, along with her, her twin was also abused by her abusers. However, she employed the heroic saga narrative portraying herself as the hero who was in control of herself and the situations she was in. Much can be learned from her. As she recounted:

“I do not know. When my stepfather molested me, I was not in the right mind because my nephew was in the hospital with a 50-50 chance of surviving. My twin and my elder sister were the ones who were in the hospital while I was left at home. On that day, Mama was in the market; it was noontime. He called me to get inside the house because I was at the store. He was holding a knife and told me to sit in the cot and remove my clothes. I refused to remove my clothes despite his insistence until my mother arrived. He dropped the knife beside me and ran to the restroom.

Notice that despite the repeated demands of the abuser, she did not obey his order to undress herself until her mother arrived. This kind of narrative is resonant with the narrative type of the story of the second abuse she shared. This time her brother-in-law attempted to abuse her, but she did not bend to his demand. She was hit, so she screamed aloud, and her sister discovered about this attempted abuse. May recalled:

“He grabbed my leg and pulled me downstairs, but I managed to climb upstairs and hold tight to my twin. He called me to go to him, but I did not. I whispered to my twin. I said, “Jam, our brother. . .” Jam clutched me tighter. The two of us were bracing each other so that I could not be pulled down. Because I did not give in, he hit me, causing me to scream. The commotion roused my elder sister, Che. She asked me what happened. He went downstairs, and I said, “Our brother hit me.” As he resumed his drinking, my sister called him, resulting in another fracas.”

Still, there was another instance when her brother-in-law fondled her. She ran away afterward. With this, she acted with full agency and full control of herself and her situation. She was not a helpless, powerless girl submitting herself to a master, and she was not afraid of retaliation. She fought. She said:

“There was also a time when my older sister told me to stay home because she was going someplace. Our brother started touching me (during that time, I was already working). The following day, I did not return home. My twin and I left. We searched for a new job until we reached Pampanga and found a very kind employer. We stayed there for a long time and have not seen our sister and our Mama since then. “

Heroic Saga Narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

The heroic saga narrative had far-reaching effects on the identity, relationships, and actions of May. She viewed herself as a hero who did not wait for help from her family members. She fought her way to free herself from the bondage of her sexual abusers.

Heroic Identity and Heroic Actions

In the adventure tale that she had emplotted, May stood as the main protagonist. Although the heroic saga narrative is characterized by the hero as the abused, it also has a progressive theme similar to that of the rescued slave identity where the hero is the rescuer. In the case of May, she had the full agency and control of herself and her situation. She did not let her situation or other people dictate what to feel, think, and do.

In line with the heroic narrative, she felt much stronger about how she coped with the abuses than others who would typically break down. May said:

“Difficult. I do not know. The good thing was, for example, if this happened to other people, I think they would already break down. It was a good thing that although there were so many challenges that came to my life, I stood my ground and was able to surmount them all. Even in this recent ordeal, I fought and remained strong.”

She narrated that she had fought and survived and even acted in full control of her abuser at one point. She even objected that her brother-in-law’s term of imprisonment be lowered:

May: I wanted him incarcerated for six to eight years, but he pleaded for three years or below. I was against it, but I told the fiscal that if he did not agree, I would testify [in court]. Interviewer: Oh, did they move for amicable settlement? May: Yes, but when [social worker] and I went to the Hall of Justice on September 11, it was Monday, they agreed to my offer of six to eight years.

In this part, the word “my offer” implies that May was in full control. She was the one offering – suggesting that the fate of her abuser was in her hands. She also had good future aspirations: “Everything is now clear because the case is already over. I have a plan to go back to my school before in Piapi. My elder brother asked me whether I would continue. I said, “Yes.”

In terms of her affiliations, she found connections and easy identifications with those people who had similar narratives with her. She could open up her problems and shared her experiences with people who, in a way, lifted her spirit. Moreover, the heroic narrative also seemed to wipe away all the stigma of the abuses. During the interview, she reported having no negative feelings because “I do not mind it anymore… it’s harmful to me. It is nothing to me anymore.”

May’s reaction could entirely be different from that of the dominant tragic resistance and rescued slave narratives. Unlike the rest where the stigma remains, her narrative tells that she has won over the torment.

The purpose of this paper was to describe the narrative types and effects of the stories of sexual abuse experiences of Filipino children and adolescents in their childhood and adolescence. The study is essential in filling up gaps in the literature on child and adolescent sexual abuse. Also, it introduces an alternative narrative analysis – dialogical narrative analysis – in analyzing stories on sexual abuse. With this perspective, stories are seen as retrospective and prospective polyphonic and heteroglossic devices in representing actions and experiences. Narratives as cultural symbols tend to have influences on children and adolescents’ adjustment after sexual abuse experiences. The study provides an answer to Morrison et al.’s ( 2018 ) conflicting results of their review. In their review, some studies show that fear may or may not prompt children to disclose, and they attribute this to the type of abuse experienced. However, we argue that it is not primarily the type of event that occurred, but the type of narrative a particular child or adolescent takes to narrate her story that influences her reactions to the abuse, as shown by the idiosyncratic effects of the three narrative types in this study. As Rabih Alameddine ( 2009 , p.450) notes: “Events matter little, only stories of those events affect us.”

We found three different ‘narrative types’ (Frank 1995 ) in the stories of 10 female Filipinos who experienced sexual abuse. These narrative types are tragic resistance narrative, rescued slave narrative, and heroic saga narrative. We coined these narrative types by loosely basing it on the narrative typology suggested by Smith ( 2016 ). These narratives have idiosyncratic consequences on the identities, social affiliations, and actions of the participants. This supports the contentions of socio-narratology that narratives do not just represent actions but also act prospectively in influencing what identities the participants would take, whom they would affiliate, and what actions to take (Frank 2010 , 2012 ).

We can also see the influence of the Filipino culture on the narratives of the participants. This influence demonstrates the heteroglossic and polyphonic nature of narratives (Frank 2012 ). Filipinos are communitarian (Guevara 2005 ). With this, relationships are highly valued. Thus, the interests of the family and the community are considered superior to individual interests. This is probably the primary reason why most of the participants’ stories were told in the tragic resistance and rescued slave narrative. They were afraid that if they disclosed the abuses, it would ruin family relationships. Moreover, those who used rescued slave narratives tended to be highly dependent on family and friends’ help. The self and its interests were sidetracked as only one participant storied her life in a heroic and individualistic manner.

Although the study is informative, it is not without limitations. Contextual limitations are present in the study. Other contexts might provide different narrative types and consequences of such narratives because the culture is at play in narrative research. Thus, we join other scholars’ call in conducting more qualitative studies on children’s and adolescents’ narrative voices on their sexual abuse experiences. Also, the study is limited in the type of participants. The present study analyzed stories of those who had been admitted to a crisis center. Stories of victims who have no such admission might differ. Thus, future research should explore the narrative voices of victims not admitted to crisis centers.

The study is also limited in terms of focusing only on the structure and consequences of the narrative. It has not delved into what influences one to take such a narrative. Thus, future research could address this limitation by looking into the personal and contextual variabilities in the production of stories. It has also been widely acknowledged that interviewing is a co-production between the research participant and the interviewer (Gubrium and Holstein 2009 ; Holstein and Gubrium 1995 ). The interviewer exerts an influence on the stories produced. Thus, the interviewer (first author) might have a unique influence on the participants. Nevertheless, she built enough rapport to address this. Future research can still employ less intrusive ways of conducting narrative analysis, like visual analysis (Riessman 2008 ).

This study is just a step going forward in employing the narrative approach to sexual abuse studies. It is only a primary seed for exploring both the ‘whats’ and especially the ‘hows,’ which have been neglected in narrative research (Gubrium and Holstein 2009 ). Future research could explore the different dimensions of narrative analysis – thematic, structural, dialogical, and even visual (Riessman 2008 ). Moreover, we argue that future scholars should take guidance from Frank’s ( 2010 , 2012 ) socio-narratology and dialogical narrative analysis to do this. Socio-narratology addresses the theoretical and methodological needs implied by Gibson and Morgan ( 2013 ). They argued that there is a need for sexual abuse research to analyze the linkages among contexts, abuse, and consequences of these abuses as illuminated by stories, which do not neglect contexts and idiosyncrasies of different experiences studies suffer.

Future studies could also build upon the current findings, especially on the three narrative types. There may be other narrative types available in other localities as culture and contexts provide variability in narratives. Moreover, these narratives are the resources people use to tell their stories (Frank 2010 , 2012 ; Harrington 2008 ; Riessman 2008 ). Thus, sexual abuse stories may differ in other places. Other researchers could pursue this line of inquiry.

Moreover, it is suggested that more studies on child sexual abuse be done in the Philippines. A recent review found a lack of research on child maltreatment, especially on sexual abuse. Sexual abuse has been known to have far-reaching adverse consequences for the victims, and more research can be conducted about this (Roche 2017 ). Moreover, the narrative approach could give an avenue to hear these victims’ ‘voices,’ especially with the recent interest in cultural studies of children and adolescents’ sexual abuse experiences.

Authors contribution

Conceptualization: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña, Dan Jerome S. Barrera], Methodology: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña]; Formal analysis and investigation: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña with the assistance of Dan Jerome S. Barrera]; Writing - original draft preparation: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña]; Writing - review and editing: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña, Dan Jerome S. Barrera]; Funding acquisition: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña]; Resources: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña].

Funding for this study was derived from the Commission on Higher Education [Philippines].

Compliance with Ethical Standards

All rules and regulations related to research with human participants were strictly followed. Ethical clearance was given by the Silliman University ethics committee.

Informed consent was obtained from the participants and authorized personnel.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

This paper was a derivative of the doctoral dissertation of the first author at Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Philippines

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Today’s front page, Thursday, March 27, 2024

Sexual harassment

Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan
November 26, 2017
4 minute read

The recent string of sexual misconduct allegations that have rocked Hollywood, the media and Capitol Hill, have spurred greater awareness beyond the high-profile predators. Weeks after the first stories broke alleging that Hollywood producer Henry Weinstein engaged in decades-long pattern of sexual harassment (he denies it), the list of men accused of similar acts keeps getting longer ( www.cnn.comPeggyDrexler : “Are Men Really Clueless About Sexual Harassment?”)

Why do men generally appear to be clueless about sexual harassment? President Duterte himself was under fire after wolf whistling at a reporter in a Press Conference held in May 2016 and defending himself days later saying that it was “not a sexual thing” (Rappler IQ published June 24, 2016).

The concept of sexual harassment is clear under Philippine Law. In the Philippines, sexual harassment is defined by Republic Act (RA) 7877 or the “Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995.” Section 3 thereof provides:

“SEC. 3. Work, Education or Training-related Sexual Harassment Defined.— Work, education or training-related sexual harassment is committed by an employer, employee, manager, supervisor, agent of the employer, teacher, instructor, professor, coach, trainer or any other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a work or training or education environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other, regardless of whether the demand, request or requirement for submission is accepted by the object of said Act.

(a) In a work-related or employment environment, sexual harassment is committed when:

(1.) The sexual favor is made as a condition in the hiring or in the employment, reemployment or continued employment of said individual, or in granting said individual favorable compensation, terms, conditions, promotions or privileges, or if the refusal to grant the sexual favor results in limiting, segregating or classifying the employee, which in any way would discriminate, deprive or diminish employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect said employee: xxx

(b) In an education or training environment, sexual harassment is committed:

(1) Against one who is under the care, custody or supervision of the offender;

(2) Against one whose education, training, apprenticeship or tutorship is entrusted to the offender; and

(3) When the sexual favor is made a condition to the giving of a passing grade, the granting of honors and scholarship or the payment of a stipend, allowance or other benefits, privileges or considerations; xxx

Resolution 956161 of the Civil Service Commission (dated October 10, 1995) enumerates in Rule V, Section 5 thereof the forms of sexual harassment:

(a) Physical.

(i.) Physical contact or malicious touching;

(ii.) Overt sexual advances;

(iii.) Unwelcome, improper or any unnecessary gesture of a sexual nature; or

(iv.) Any other suggestive expression or lewd insinuation.

(b) Verbal, such as request or demands for sexual favors or lurid remarks.

(c) Use of objects, pictures, letters or written notes with bold, persuasive sexual underpinnings and which create a hostile, offensive or intimidating work or training environment that is annoying or disgusting to the victim.

Criminal, civil and administrative sanctions are provided for under the law. These include imprisonment of one month to six months and/or a fine of P10,000 to P20,000 at the discretion of the Court. This is without prejudice to the victim’s filing of a separate and independent action for damages and other affirmative relief (RA 7877, Section 6 to 7) Administrative liabilities under Civil Service regulations include reprimand or fine or suspension, transfer or demotion in rank and salary and suspension or dismissal depending on the gravity of the offense (Rule X, Section 21-23).

It is the duty of the Employer or Head of Office in a Work-related, Education or Training Environment to create a Committee on Decorum and Investigation of cases on sexual harassment. Failure to do so would make such Employer or Head solidarily liable for damages arising from the acts of sexual harassment.

The victim and perpetrator can be any gender, and the perpetrator does not have to be of the opposite sex. However, a 2016 study conducted by the Social Weather Station found that women are most vulnerable to sexual harassment. In Quezon City, Metro Manila’s biggest city with a population of over 3 million, 3 in 5 women were sexually harassed at least once in their lifetime, according to the report. In barangays Payatas and Bagong Silangan, 88 percent of respondents ages 18 to 24 experienced street harassment at least once. Across all ages 12 to 55 and above, wolf whistling and catcalling are the most experienced cases. Quezon City is the first city in Metro Manila to impose penalties on street harassment. In the Philippines, 58 percent of incidents of sexual harassment happen on the streets, major roads and eskinitas (alleys). Physical forms of sexual harassment occur mostly in public transport. ( https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/135240-sexual-harassment-philippines )

There is some recent discussion of whether recent trends toward more revealing clothing and permissive habits have created a more sexualized general environment, in which some forms of communication are unfairly labeled harassment but are simply a reaction to a greater sexualization in everyday environments. With the advent of the Internet, social interactions, including sexual harassment, increasingly occur online, for example, in video games. I strongly support a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and a zero-tolerance standard of “Must report-Must investigate-Must punish.”

Sometimes, the perpetrator may be completely unaware that his or her behavior is offensive or constitutes sexual harassment or may be completely unaware that his or her actions may be unlawful. The best defense to such offensive behavior is to put a stop to it by saying “No!” And “No” should mean “No!”

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Essay on Sexual Harassment

Students are often asked to write an essay on Sexual Harassment in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment

Understanding sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is a serious issue. It involves unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. It can occur in various settings like schools, workplaces, and public places.

Impact of Sexual Harassment

Victims of sexual harassment may experience emotional distress, fear, and anxiety. It can impact their work or school performance and overall well-being. It’s crucial to stand against it and support victims.

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Education is key to preventing sexual harassment. Understanding consent and respecting boundaries can help. Also, schools and workplaces should have strict policies against it.

250 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment, a pervasive societal issue, is an unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that can undermine an individual’s personal dignity and safety. It is a manifestation of power imbalance, often occurring in environments such as workplaces, educational institutions, and public spaces.

The Types of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment can be categorized into two types: ‘quid pro quo’ and ‘hostile environment’. ‘Quid pro quo’ refers to instances where job benefits are made contingent on sexual favors. ‘Hostile environment’ includes any unwelcome sexual behavior that creates an intimidating or offensive atmosphere.

The impact of sexual harassment is profound, often leading to psychological, physical, and occupational consequences. It can cause anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among victims, disrupt their work or academic performance, and even lead to job loss or dropout.

Addressing Sexual Harassment

Addressing sexual harassment necessitates a comprehensive approach. It involves creating awareness, implementing stringent laws, and promoting a culture of respect. Education plays a crucial role in fostering understanding about consent and the importance of treating all individuals with dignity.

Sexual harassment is a grave issue that requires collective effort to combat. By fostering a culture of respect and implementing strong legal measures, society can create a safe environment for all individuals. The fight against sexual harassment is not just a legal battle, but a moral one that shapes the fabric of our society.

500 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment

Introduction.

Sexual harassment, a pervasive issue in society, is a form of gender-based violence that infringes upon an individual’s fundamental rights. It is a complex phenomenon that transcends all social, economic, and cultural boundaries, manifesting in various forms such as unwelcome sexual advances, verbal or physical harassment, and requests for sexual favors.

Sexual harassment is characterized by its unwelcome nature, where the victim feels uncomfortable, threatened, or violated. It is crucial to understand that it is the impact on the victim, not the intent of the perpetrator, that determines whether an act constitutes harassment. This behavior can occur in various settings, including workplaces, educational institutions, and public spaces, and can have severe psychological, physical, and socio-economic effects on the victim.

The Legal Perspective

From a legal standpoint, sexual harassment is recognized as a violation of human rights. Numerous international conventions and national laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. or the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act in India, have been enacted to protect individuals from such behavior. These laws aim to maintain a safe and respectful environment for all, emphasizing the importance of consent and respect in interpersonal relationships.

The Societal Impact

The societal impact of sexual harassment is profound. It perpetuates gender inequality, inhibits social development, and undermines the dignity and potential of the victims. The fear and stigma associated with sexual harassment often discourage victims from reporting, leading to underreporting and a lack of justice. This silence further emboldens the perpetrators and perpetuates a culture of impunity.

Preventive Measures and Solutions

Addressing sexual harassment requires a comprehensive approach. Education plays a critical role in prevention, with emphasis on teaching respect, consent, and gender equality from a young age. Institutions must also implement strict anti-harassment policies, provide safe reporting mechanisms, and ensure that complaints are taken seriously and dealt with promptly.

Furthermore, it is essential to foster an environment that supports victims and encourages them to speak out. This requires challenging societal norms that blame victims and perpetuate silence. Instead, society should focus on holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.

Sexual harassment is a grave violation of human rights and a significant barrier to achieving gender equality. Despite its pervasive nature, it is not inevitable. Through education, legislation, and societal change, it is possible to create a world where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. The responsibility to combat sexual harassment lies with all of us, and it is through collective action that we can effect meaningful change.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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One Comment

Thanks po sa answer

Essay on Sexual Harassment

500 words essay on sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behaviour which is offensive, humiliating and intimidating. Further, it is against the law to sexually harass anyone. Over the years, sexual harassment has taken a lot of time to be recognized as a real issue. Nonetheless, it is a start that can protect people from this harassment. The essay on sexual harassment will take you through the details.

Sexual Harassment and Its Impacts

Sexual harassment comes in many forms and not just a single one. It includes when someone tries to touch, grab or make other physical contacts with you without your consent. Further, it also includes passing comments which have a sexual meaning.

After that, it is also when someone asks you for sexual favours. Leering and staring continuously also counts as one. You are being sexually harassed when the perpetrator displays rude and offensive material so that others can see it.

Another form is making sexual gestures towards you and cracking sexual jokes or comments towards you. It is also not acceptable for someone to question you about your sexual life or insult you with sexual comments.

Further, making an obscene phone call or indecently exposing oneself also counts as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can impact a person severely. It may stress out the victim and they may suffer from anxiety or depression.

Moreover, it can also cause them to withdraw from social situations. After that, the victim also starts to lose confidence and self-esteem. There may also be physical symptoms like headaches, sleep problems and being not able to concentrate or be productive.

What Can We Do

No one in this world deserves to go through sexual harassment, whether man or woman. We all have the right to live freely without being harassed, bullied or discriminated against. It is the reason why sexual harassment is illegal.

To begin with, the person may try talking to the offender and convey their message regarding their unwanted behaviour. Further, it is also essential to stay informed about this issue. Make sure to learn about the policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment in your workplace, school or university.

Further, try to document everything to help you remember the name of the offenders and the incidents. Similarly, make sure to save any evidence you get which will help with your complaint. For instance, keeping the text messages, emails, photos or more.

Most importantly, always try to get external information and advice from people who will help you if you decide to file a lawsuit. Likewise, never deal with it on your own and share it with someone you trust to lighten your load.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Sexual Harassment

To conclude, sexual harassment is a very real issue that went unnoticed for a long period of time, but not anymore. It is essential for all of us to take measures to prevent it from happening as it damages the life of the victim severely. Thus, make sure you help out those who are suffering from sexual harassment and make the perpetrator accountable.

FAQ of Essay on Sexual Harassment

Question 1: What are the effects of sexual harassment?

Answer 1: Sexual harassment has major effects on the victim like suffering from significant psychological effects which include anxiety, depression , headaches, sleep disorders, lowered self-esteem, sexual dysfunction and more.

Question 2: How do you tell if someone is sexually harassing you?

Answer 2: It is essential to notice the signs if you feel someone is sexually harassing you. The most important sign is if you feel uncomfortable and experience any unwanted physical contact. If your ‘no’ does not have an impact and you’re being subjected to sexual jokes, you are being sexually harassed.

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COMMENTS

Ano ang seksuwal na panghahalay (sexual assault)?
1800RESPECT. Ang iyong mga karapatan at opsiyon makalipas ang isang pag-atakeng sekswal. Ang seksuwal na panghahalay ay anumang seksuwal o ginawang seksuwal (sexualized) na kilos na magreresulta upang ang isang tao ay makaramdam na hindi siya komportable, nasisindak o natatakot siya. Ito ay isang kilos na hindi inakit o pinili ng isang tao.
Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women and Girls: Bakit may
May tinatawag na " risk factors " o ang mga dahilan kung bakit lumalaki ang posibilidad na maging harasser ang isang tao. Ang halimbawa ng mga dahilang ito ay: Ang paggamit ng alak at droga; ang pagkilos sa agresibong paraan na nakakasakit sa ibang tao; ang exposure sa mga sexual na mensahe o media; ang hypermasculinity, o ang pagtanggap sa ...
Seksuwal na panliligalig
Ang seksuwal na panliligalig (Ingles: sexual harassment) ay isang pananakot (intimidasyon), paghahari-harian (pagmamaton), o pamimilit (koersiyon o pamumuwersa) na may katangiang seksuwal o pampagtatalik, o ang hindi kinagigiliwan, hindi pinahihintulutan, o hindi nababagay o hindi marapat na pangako ng mga pabuya bilang kapalit ng mga biyaya o pabor na seksuwal.
Pang-aabusong seksuwal
Pang-aabusong seksuwal. Ang pang-aabusong sekswal, o kilala rin sa tawag na pangmomolestiya, ay ang pagpilit ng mga hindi kanais-nais na sekswal na pag-uugali ng isang tao sa iba. Kung ito ay agarang pamumwersa, ng maiksing durasyon, o madalang, ito ay tinatawag na sekswal na panghahalay. Ang may-sala ay tinatawag bilang isang mang-aabusong ...
Sexual Harassment
May batas laban sa sexual harassment. Ito ay ang R.A. 7877 Anti-sexual harassment law. Ang sexual harassment law ay hindi lamang proteksiyon para sa mga kababaihan kungdi para rin sa mga lalaki.
PDF Halimbawa: Ang panliligalig w na sekswal at dahil w sa kasarian
Ang panliligalig na sekswal at dahil sa kasarian: alamin ang iyong mga karapatan. Halimbawa: Ang isang nangangasiwang sarhento ng pulis ay humingi ng mga sekswal na pagsulong sa isang mas batang babaeng konstable. Nang ipinakita ng babaeng konstable na hindi siya interesado, sobrang pinagmasdan ng sarhento ang kanyang trabaho, at inakusahan na ...
PDF "Hayaan Niyo Na Lang Kami"
Dapat hayaan na lang nila kami. - T., 18-anyos na baklang estudyante sa hay-iskul sa Maynila, Pebrero 2017. Dapat na ligtas na lugar para sa lahat ang mga eskuwelahan. Pero sa Pilipinas, madalas ...
Ano Ang Sexual Harassment?
Kabilang din dito ang bullying na nakakasakit ng tao sa pamamagitan ng mga sekswal o malisyosong mga biro, komento, chismis, o kilos na tungkol o nakadirekta sa ibang tao. Kung biktima ng sexual harassment, tandaan na hindi mo ito kasalanan. Ano pa man ang kilos o suot ng isang tao, hindi 'yon imbitasyon para bastusin sa kahit anong paraan.
Victim-blaming: Why survivors of sexual violence won't come ...
The Safe Spaces Act or "Bawal Bastos" law protects Filipinos from forms of sexual harassment in public places and even online. It is a more encompassing version of the old law, the Anti-Sexual ...
Domestic and Sexual Violence in Filipino Communities, 2018
This factsheet on violence and help seeking in Filipino communities includes: Census data on demographics and English proficiency; Statistics on domestic violence and other forms of abuse; ... Online sexual harassment of teenagers of Asian descent on dating platforms. February 29, 8am HST/11am PST/1pm CST/2pm ESTGenerative AI, with its ability ...
"Beautiful Beth and Other Stories: On Sexual Violence in the
In addition to the constant threat of direct assault, the prevalence of sexual harassment has deprived us of a sense of safety in our communities. The Social Weather Stations' February 2016 study surveyed women from two areas of Quezon City and revealed that three out of five women living there had been on the receiving end of catcalling ...
Bawal Bastos: Pilipino ay Magalang
Dubbed the "Bawal Bastos Law", SSA defines gender-based sexual harassment (GBSH) in streets, public spaces, online, workplaces, and educational or training institutions. Plan International Philippines aims to support and work with various partners to promote and protect the rights of women and children through an awareness campaign. The ...
Diskriminasyon sa Sekswal na Oryentasyon at Pagkakakilanlan ng Kasarian
Sa Bostock v.Clayton County, Georgia, Blg. 17-1618 (S. Ct. Hunyo 15, 2020), sinabi ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman na ang pagpapaalis sa trabaho ng mga indibidwal dahil sa kanilang sekswal na oryentasyon o katayuan bilang transgender ay labag sa pagbabawal ng Titulo VII sa diskriminasyon dahil sa kasarian. Isinagawa ng Hukuman ang pagpapasya nito sa pamamagitan ng pagtuon sa simpleng teksto ng ...
Sexual Harassment (RA 7877)
A: (1) Laban sa biktima na nasa pangangalaga, kustodiya o superbisyon ng offender. (2) Laban sa biktimang ang pag-aaral o pagsasanay ay ipinagkatiwala sa offender. (3) Kung ang sekswal na pabor ay kondisyon upang bigyan ang biktima ng pasadong marka, parangal o scholarship, allowance at anupamang benepisyo o konsiderasyon.
The many faces of sexual harassment in PH
Under the Civil Service Commission Resolution Number 01-0940, a set of administrative rules for government employees, forms of sexual harassment include: malicious touching. overt sexual advances ...
Sexual Harassment Law Philippines
Sexual harassment is a grave matter that many jurisdictions, including the Philippines, have taken active steps to combat. The Philippines has specific legislation in place that defines and criminalizes such behavior, ensuring that workplaces, educational institutions, and other public spaces remain safe and free from harassment. ...
Victim Blaming Culture in the Philippines: A Hindering Factor to the
Also, Filipinos' rape and sexual harassment myth acceptance still depend more on social and interpersonal influences, interactions, culture, and history, guided by social constructionism. B. The Role of Victim-Blaming Culture towards the Sexual Abused Individuals Tayona (2019), in her study entitled "Constructing Power in Victim-blaming: A ...
Filipino Children and Adolescents' Stories of Sexual Abuse: Narrative
This paper aims to describe the narrative types and consequences of sexual abuse stories among ten female Filipino children and adolescents. We argue that cultural symbols in the form of narratives describe phenomena through personal stories, and they also tend to influence emotions and actions. This perspective, we believe, is also applicable ...
Sexual harassment
Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan. November 26, 2017. 4 minute read. Sexual harassment is not about sex, it is about power. The harasser or predator is often in a position of power or authority over the ...
Anti-Sexual Harassment Law in the Philippines
The Anti-Sexual Harassment Law in the Philippines is a powerful legal instrument that extends its protective reach beyond traditional workplace settings. Understanding its nuanced application in the realms of work, education, and training is essential. Apsay Law is dedicated to guiding individuals and organizations in navigating this legal ...
PDF Republic Act No. 7877 an Act Declaring Sexual Harassment Unlawful in
Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995." Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State shall value the dignity of every individual, enhance the development of it human resources, guarantee full respect for human rights, and uphold the dignity of workers, employees, applicants for employment, students or ...
Essay on Sexual Harassment
500 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment Introduction. Sexual harassment, a pervasive issue in society, is a form of gender-based violence that infringes upon an individual's fundamental rights. It is a complex phenomenon that transcends all social, economic, and cultural boundaries, manifesting in various forms such as unwelcome sexual advances ...
Essay On Sexual Harassment in English for Students
The essay on sexual harassment will take you through the details. Sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behaviour which is offensive, humiliating and intimidating. Over the years, sexual harassment has taken a lot of time to be recognized as a real issue. The essay on sexual harassment will take you through the details.

Ano ang seksuwal na panghahalay (sexual assault)?

1800RESPECT

Nangyayari ang seksuwal na panghahalay sa maraming anyo

Mga katotohanan tungkol sa seksuwal na panghahalay

Ang mga epekto ng seksuwal na panghahalay

Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women and Girls: Bakit may ganito?

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ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

What is the Safe Spaces Act?

The crimes of gender-based sexual harassment (GBSH) are committed through any unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks against any person regardless of the motive.

Everyone has the responsibility to respect the rights of other people. Everyone has a role to play in ending GBSH. Dahil lahat may magagawa, lahat makikinabang.

partner with us

IF YOU ARE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER, CALL 911 OR CONTACT PNP HOTLINE AND WCPC: (632)8532 66 90 | ALENG PULIS HOTLINE: 0919 777 7377

The many faces of sexual harassment in PH

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Victim Blaming Culture in the Philippines: A Hindering Factor to the Unresolved Battles of Sexual Abused Individuals

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Filipino Children and Adolescents’ Stories of Sexual Abuse: Narrative Types and Consequences

Dan Jerome S. Barrera

Introduction

Methodology

Data Gathering Procedures

Dialogical Narrative Analysis

The Narrative Types

Tragic Resistance Narrative

Tragic Resistance Narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

Dirty and Foreclosed Self

Emotional Attachment with the Abuser

Subtle Resistance and Disclosure

Rescued Slave Narrative

Rescued Slave narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

Rescued Slave Identity

Disaffiliation from the Abusers

Emotional Resistance and Disclosure

Heroic Saga Narrative

Heroic Saga Narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

Heroic Identity and Heroic Actions

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