"This is groundbreaking for women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights."
Following a series of long meetings and public consultations in various parts of the country in the last three months, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of R.A. 11313, the Safe Spaces Act, more popularly known as the “Bawal Bastos” law, was launched on October 28. I consider this as a groundbreaking law on women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights.
As someone who took part in the deliberation of the bill at the House of Representatives, and a member of the Technical Drafting Committee headed by the Philippine Commission on Women that developed the IRR, I can say with certainty that if this law is fully and efficiently implemented, it will spell a difference in the lives particularly of Filipino women and girls.
For one, this law recognizes that gender-based sexual harassment can, and do happen everywhere. This law expands the coverage of the first law that only covered SH in workplaces and educational and training institutions, to public and online spaces. RA 11313 also covers GBSH committed between peers, and no longer requires a superior-to-subordinate relationship, or moral ascendancy between the perpetrator and the victim.
In terms of public spaces, the law covers streets, roads, alleys, markets, parks and similar places. It also considers privately-owned places that cater to the public as public spaces including buildings, malls, restaurants and cafes, bars and clubs, cinemas, salons, resorts, and other places of recreation. Moreover, public utility vehicles such as jeepneys, buses, taxis, app-based conveyance such as Grab and Angkas, as well as school bus services are also covered.
Second, for the first time, a law’s IRR has defined terms such as: Gender identity and/or expression; homophobic remarks or slurs; misogynistic and sexist remarks or slurs; and transphobic remarks and slurs. This, to me, is precedent-setting as these definitions can be useful in subsequent discussions of bills related with Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression.
Third, the “Bawal Bastos” law penalizes GBSH acts for as long as these are unwanted, uninvited, and committed in public spaces. MOTIVE of the perpetrator is irrelevant, according to the law. This is crucial because people should recognize that GBSH is wrong no matter what the motive of the perpetrator is.
More importantly, victims no longer have to prove ill-motive on the part of the accused, which happens in prosecuting crimes based on laws for women. Motive is very hard to prove and many times, perpetrators of gender-based crimes get acquitted because of this. RA 11313 changes this by removing the element of motive in the commission of GBSH crimes.
Last, beyond penalizing perpetrators, the law has the potential to facilitate a change in mindsets about violence against women, GBSH, women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights. It is a step in the right direction as it requires strong public education on the law, the conduct of gender sensitivity seminars for the various government offices, including local government units, that are mandated to implement this law.
Those tasked to apprehend perpetrators like traffic enforcers in Metro Manila, the Philippine National Police, and security guards in public and commercial establishments and public places, are also required to undergo training. The same training is, likewise, part of the penalties of those proven to have violated the law. Hopefully, these education activities will help change the way people regard women and those in the LGBTQIA+ community, and learn to respect their rights.
The Safe Spaces Law penalizes a host of acts. Many of these are regarded by some as “ordinary” or “normal.” Meaning, these happen a lot and are tolerated by society, without knowing the effects of such acts to victims.
For GBSH in public spaces, such acts include: Catcalling; wolf-whistling; unwanted invitations; misogynistic, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic remarks or slurs; persisted uninvited comments or gestures on a person’s appearance; relentless requests for personal details; statement of sexual comments and suggestions; leering or intrusive gazing; cursing; taunting; the use of words, gestures or actions that ridicule on the basis of sex, gender, or SOGIE; persistent telling of sexual jokes; use of sexual names, comments, and demands; public masturbation or flashing of private parts; groping, touching, or pinching, or brushing against the genitalia, face, arms, anus, groin, breasts, inner thighs, buttocks, or any part of the victim’s body; or any advances, whether verbal or physical, that is unwanted and has threatened one’s sense of personal space and physical safety.
For online BGSH, the acts penalized are those that use information and communications technology in terrorizing and intimidating victims. These include: physical, psychological, and emotional threats, unwanted sexual misogynistic, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic comments online whether publicly or through direct and private messages; invasion of privacy through cyber-stalking and incessant messaging; uploading and sharing without consent any form of media that contains photos, voice, or video with sexual content; unauthorized recording and sharing of photos, videos, or any information online; impersonating identities of victims online or posting lies to harm victims’ reputation; or filing false abuse reports to online platforms to silence victims.
Indeed, the Safe Spaces Law covers a lot of areas. It is a long (19 pages all) and complex law that will involve a good number of government agencies to implement. The “Bawal Bastos” law also mandates LGUs to pass ordinances so they are able to localize the law’s implementation.
This is the big challenge now—the full and efficient implementation of the law. For this to happen, there is a big need for implementers to thoroughly understand the policy, and develop their capacities for implementation of their mandates.
On the other hand, the law should be understood by those who should benefit from it. This requires community, workplace, and school-based education about the law’s salient provisions. A good law can be wasted if those who should implement it do not do it properly, and when those who should benefit from it do not know the law.
During the launch of the IRR, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Danny Lim unequivocally said that he welcomes the law and is fully committed to its implementation. I hope that other implementers have the same commitment, and that such is translated into actual programs for the law to work.
I no longer want to hear what I heard in one of the public consultations that “Kawawa naman, makukulong dahil lang sinipulan ang babae.” People should now realize that such acts are reprehensible and criminal. People should feel for the victims, instead.
The “Bawal Bastos” law is there, it should now be fully and efficiently implemented.
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