By Cindy Ferrer/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Villages (barangays) in Western Visayas should ensure that their desks for victims of Violence Against Women (VAW) are functional, a social welfare official said here Friday.
“We have to acknowledge that the occurrence of abuses against women continues to happen and the barangay should be the first responder to victims,” May Rago, Information Officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 6 (Western Visayas), said in the light of the 18-day campaign to end VAW in the country from Nov. 25 until December 15.
According to Rago, the presence of VAW desks in villages is essential because it provides opportunity for women victims to report the abuses.
“It should be reported to prevent it because if it will not be reported, your partner would think that it is normal and more likely, he will repeat the violence,” she said.
Rago also encouraged women to seek help from their local social welfare and development office and members of the Philippine National Police.
She stressed that every abuse against women is alarming and should not be tolerated because it is against the right of the person.
The DSWD has established a Regional Center for Women to provide protective and rehabilitative services among women survivors of abuse and violence and help them resolve their problems and restore their normal social functioning.
Located at New Lucena, Iloilo, the center caters to 21 women, nine of whom are survivors of VAW.
They are provided with social, home life, educational, psychological, health, entrepreneurial, recreational, developmental and spiritual services.
