Written by Rosario B. Mandac, registered social worker and coordinator of the Cagayan LAV Center, for the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW).

Originally published in Gender-Responsive LGUs at Work: LGU Experiences in Using the GAD Budget

This case describes the various forms of support that the Cagayan LAV Center provides to VAW victims. The LAV Center has served as a model for other municipalities interested in putting up a similar facility in their area. The Center has likewise become a laboratory for the training and study tours of reproductive health workers.

Overview

The Cagayan Love a Victim (LAV) Center is a community-based constellation of services provided by various government agencies and non-government organizations to victims of violence. It has a telephone hotline, operates on a 24-hour basis, and provides temporary shelter for 72 hours. Manned by trained social workers and a police officer, the Center provides such services as face-to-face or telephone counseling, food, toiletries, home life services, medical assistance, legal services, actual rescue of victims or survivors, stress debriefing, and psychological evaluation. The Center maintains a record of cases, their status and outcomes.

A Task Force composed of various GOs and NGOs supports the program by providing and facilitating access to services the victims need, e.g., free legal services thru the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Commission on Human Rights. This collaborative arrangement is covered by a Memorandum of Agreement, which includes an agreed-upon set of protocol in handling and managing cases.

The Center has created awareness about violence against women among GOs, NGOs, and the community. More importantly, it has provided an invaluable support to victims in facing their crisis and rebuilding their lives. It is also regarded as a model that GAD advocates in other areas could consider replicating for their own VAW-focused interventions.

The Cagayan LAV Center: a brief history

One of the most serious problems that the province of Cagayan has had to contend with was the increasing number of cases of abused women and children. Majority of the victims – mostly of wife battering and child sexual abuse – needed a temporary refuge, a place that they can run to and where they can feel safe, pass the night, think, and crystallize their problem. This led the province to conceptualize a project called the "Inter-agency Approach to the Prevention and Management of Violence against Women in Cagayan". The project was part of a UNFPAassisted subprogramme on Reproductive Health coordinated by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO). The Cagayan LAV Center started out as a component called "Violence Against Women Project" of the said project.

While the UNFPA project was still ongoing, the PSWDO conducted a study on how to mobilize additional funds to sustain and expand the project. The PSWDO found the answer in the GAD budget. Thus, a proposal to use part of the GAD budget for the VAW response program was submitted to and approved by the Governor. With this budget, the province expanded the project to establish it into a regular program, replicate it in eight (8) other municipalities, and sustain its operations using the province's regular GAD budget allocation. As the lead agency and focal point for GAD, the PSWDO assures the financial stability of the Center through the preparation of an annual GAD budget to support its maintenance and operations.

Objectives and strategies

The LAV Center primarily aims to address VAW by providing women a place where they can take refuge and rebuild their lives. The Center also seeks to create, among the public, higher awareness about VAW and in the process eradicate gender bias and discrimination, promote women's rights, and help them participate more productively in their own development and that of the community.

The Main LAV Center is located at the PSWDO in San Gabriel Village, Tuguegarao City, about three kilometers from the central business district. The Center has a telephone, computer, photocopier, fax machine, and other equipment needed for the documentation of VAW cases. Trained social workers and police officers attend to the needs of both referred and walk-in clients.

The Center operates 24 hours and has a telephone hotline. As a client or victim comes in, she is first interviewed by a social worker to obtain basic data using the official intake sheet. After the initial interview, the client may go through the next stages as her case demands. She may go through counseling or may request a dialogue with the offender. If needed, the case worker will refer her to partner agencies such as the PNP for blotter, the hospital for medico-legal services, etc.

A client seeking temporary shelter may stay at the Center for 72 hours, during which she will be provided with food and toiletries. While in the Center, she may go through therapeutic play and activities under the guidance of trained personnel, stay in the reflection or crying room, or just try to perform her usual home life activities. The Center conducts a two-day therapy session for the victims, which includes self-awareness, spiritual enhancement, physical fitness, and stress debriefing to help them release pent-up emotions, enhance their self image, and see themselves more positively, not as victims but as potentially productive members of the community. The principle of confidentiality is strictly observed.

The Center's staff members are given training on knowledge, skills, and techniques in handling VAW cases to help them effectively assist clients. Meanwhile, the public is informed of the services of the Center through billboards placed in strategic areas, particularly in the eight pilot municipalities.

The VAW Task Force

The Center's constellation of services is provided by an inter-agency Task Force (TF) headed by the PSWDO and composed of the following government and non-government organizations, and their respective areas of responsibility:

• DSWD Regional office, PSWDO, LGUs of Cagayan through the Social Welfare Offices, and Philippine National Police – for counseling and therapy;
• Commission on Human Rights, Provincial Prosecutor's Office, and Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cagayan Chapter – for legal assistance;
• Integrated Provincial Health Office, Cagayan Valley Medical Center, and Medical Colleges of Northern Philippines – for medical assistance;
• National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, and Parole and Probation Administration – for police, investigatory, and related services;
• Green Meadows, Zonta Club of Tuguegarao, Rotary Anns of Tuguegarao, and Population Commission – for technical and other resources; and
• Department of Labor and Employment (for cases within the work place), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (for cases of OFWs), Cagayan State University, Philippine Nurses Association, and St. Paul University – for the reporting, handling, or referral of cases to the TF.

A Memorandum of Agreement was drawn and signed by the heads of the memberagencies/ organizations in order to identify and firm up the commitments of each TF member, and to ensure continuity and sustainability in their compliance with their roles and responsibilities. Further, the TF formulated an Interagency Protocol, which all members observe in the management of cases. The members also formulated the intake and referral sheets used in the handling of cases.

To keep each other updated and continuously informed about developments concerning the Center, the members hold a quarterly meeting. Here, they discuss and evaluate the cases as to flow, quality of services, and results. Thus, these meetings further enhance the skills of both case workers and TF members in case management.

As a result of their involvement in the program, the TF members are often invited to provide technical assistance or conduct orientation sessions on VAW in the different municipalities and for groups like PNP, nurses, midwives, and NGOs.

Funding and activities

The funding support from the UNFPA program subsidized the purchase of some of the equipment and part of the capability-building training programs for the implementers. The provincial government now provides the funds for the Center's operations, as part of the gender and development budget. The LAV Center is now a regular program of PSWDO and the GAD budget has become part of the regular appropriations of the province.

The PSWDO serves as the focal point for gender and development in the province. Every year, the office prepares a GAD plan that covers the needs of the LAV Center as well as other activities to pursue related GAD objectives.

From 2002-2004, the GAD budget for the Center is as follows:

Other activities funded from the GAD budget are:

1. Celebration of the Women's Month
2. Parent effectiveness seminars
3. Livelihood support to women's groups
4. Training and seminars for situational analysis and planning for women and children.
5. Program for elderly persons, persons with disabilities, and day care workers
6. Support to women's groups, etc.

The PSWDO also draws from the GAD budget to fund its advocacy work for the implementation of the GAD program and the anti-VAW program in the municipality. Taking off from the provincial experience, similar programs have been set up in seven municipalities of the province (Peñablanca, Iguig, Solana, Amulung, Baggao, Gattaran, Aparri) and in the city of Tuguegarao. Municipal inter-agency task forces have been set up in these areas to support the program. The LGUs have agreed to allocate their GAD budget for the maintenance of the programs.

Results

From 2001-2003, the LAV Center has handled 437 cases, about two thirds (63%) of which were rape or incest cases. The others were attempted rape (19 cases), acts of lasciviousness (55), and physical/emotional abuse (86). The Center's efforts have resulted in the following:

• Increased awareness of women's human rights. Because of the training, advocacy, and information dissemination activities about VAW that the Center conducted, the public and the women, especially the survivors of VAW, have become more aware of their rights. The partner agencies have become more sensitive to the special needs of victims of survivors. With increased awareness, and with the knowledge that help is just a phone call away, it has become easier for VAW victims and their families to come forward and seek help.
• Increased public support on the issue and for victims of VAW. The medical, legal, and psycho-social needs of VAW victims are better provided as a result of inter-agency cooperation and commitment. Even barangay officials have committed to support the program. Concomitant LGU resolutions have been passed.
• Increased sharing of experience and knowledge in the handling and management of VAW problems. Because of its work and experience, the Center has become a laboratory for training on anti-VAW interventions. The Center is the site for inter-visitation of trainees on the reproductive health program. To support this sharing, the Center has been equipped with a mini-library, which students and professionals used for research and other information needs.

Lessons and challenges

Through the close coordination and cooperation among its member-agencies, the LAV Center has achieved modest success. The establishment of the inter-agency protocol was beneficial in terms of saving time, money, and effort. The standardization of the intake and referral forms clarified the delineation of responsibilities among the members, and spared the victim from the indignity and horror of reliving her ordeal by going through a repetitive process of interrogation and narration of her traumatic experience.

However, while it is true that the psychological, medical, and material needs of victims are immediately taken care of, the legal aspect of handling VAW cases poses more serious constraints. One is the slow pace of the justice system. Victims are not satisfied with merely having a case filed in court. They expect immediate results. The long wait from the time of filing to the scheduling and conduct of hearing often gives the offender the opportunity to propose to settle the case through threats or offer of money. Some victims are forced to withdraw while others lose their interest and consequently file an affidavit of desistance, thus throwing away the gains of the hard and painful work of the victim, the Center, and its network of supporters. The proposed dialogue with the five pillars of the justice system will partly address this problem, but more creative solutions are called for.

While the statistics show that the number of reported VAW cases has gone up – indicating the effectiveness of the program to empower women to come out and seek help – the real challenge is the complete eradication of the problem of violence against women. Certainly, neither the Center nor the PSWDO can do this alone. They need the cooperation and support of everyone.