First of 3 parts

VIOLENCE against women (VAW) is defined by the United Nations as 'any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.' VAW is a continuing global crisis because UN Women reported that about 736 million women, or 1 in 3 women, have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly by an intimate partner. This number excludes sexual harassment and other forms of violence. In the Philippines, the Statistica Research Department said the number of reported cases of violence against women and children (VAWC) in 2016 was over 23,100, but in 2022 that went down to more than 7,400. I believe that the total prevalence of VAWC is much higher because there are many unreported or hidden cases in our large archipelago, especially at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when women and children were unable to leave their homes. Fear of reprisal, embarrassment, economic dependency on intimate partners, unequal gender power relations and victim-blaming are among the reasons many women survivors do not disclose their experience of violence.