magna carta of women by lorna mandin
TRANSCRIPT
Republic Act 9710:Republic Act 9710:An Act Providing for An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of the Magna Carta of
WomenWomenTHE “BILL OF RIGHTS” OF FILIPINO WOMEN
approved 14 August 2009.
R.A. 9710 seeks to eliminate discrimination
against women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and
promoting the rights of Filipino women.
These rights include all rights in the Philippine Constitution and those
rights recognized under the international instruments signed and ratified by the Philippine Government.
I. General Provisions (Secs. 1-3)II. Definition of Terms (Sec. 4)III. Duties Related to the Human Rights of
Women (Sec. 5)IV. Rights and Empowerment (Secs. 8-19)V. Rights and Empowerment of
Marginalized Sectors (Secs. 20-35)VI. Institutional Mechanisms (Secs. 36-
42) Other Provisions (Secs. 43-47)
6 Chapters and 47 6 Chapters and 47 SectionsSections
Among these rights are:Among these rights are:Non-discrimination in employment in the
field of military, police, and other similar services
Non-Discriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women in media and film
Comprehensive health services and health information and education
Leave benefitsEqual rights in all matters related to
marriage and family relations
Among these rights are:Among these rights are:* Protection from all forms of violence,
including those committed by the State* Protection and security in times of
disaster, calamities and other crisis situations
* Participation and representation* Equal treatment before the law* Equal access and elimination of
discrimination against women in education, scholarships and training
* Equal participation in sports
• MCW also guarantees the civil, political and economic rights of women in the marginalized sectors
• The law also renames the NCRFW to PCW with stronger and wider authority and coverage.
• mandates the DOLE, DSWD, CHR, to help strengthen Philippine foreign posts' programs for the delivery of services to women migrant workers.
Challenges:1. Stakeholders’ responsiveness2. Translating into action and results – MCW
provisions 3. Providing guidance and inspiration for
other women – model
““Women hold half the sky. Women hold half the sky. We have our rightful place We have our rightful place in a just and gender-fair in a just and gender-fair
society. society. We should not cease to We should not cease to
struggle for our rights and struggle for our rights and freedom.”freedom.”
Thank Thank youyou
Republic Act 9710:Republic Act 9710:
An Act Providing for the An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of WomenMagna Carta of Women
I. General Provisions (Secs. 1-3)II. Definition of Terms (Sec. 4)III. Duties Related to the Human Rights of
Women (Sec. 5)IV. Rights and Empowerment (Secs. 8-19)V. Rights and Empowerment of
Marginalized Sectors (Secs. 20-35)VI. Institutional Mechanisms (Secs. 36-
42) Other Provisions (Secs. 43-47)
6 Chapters and 47 6 Chapters and 47 SectionsSections
Chapter I: General ProvisionsChapter I: General ProvisionsDeclaration of Policy
◦ Affirms the role of women in nation building◦ Ensures the substantive equality of women
and men;◦ Condemns discrimination against women, in
keeping with CEDAW and other International Instruments, consistent with Philippine Law;
◦ Affirms women’s rights as human rights;◦ Provides for the intensification of efforts to fulfill
its duties under international and domestic law to recognize, respect, protect, fulfill and promote women’s rights and freedom, especially marginalized women, in all fields
◦ Reaffirms the right of women to participate in policy formulation, planning, organization, implementation, management monitoring, and evaluation of all policies, programs and services that affect them
Chapter I: General ProvisionsChapter I: General ProvisionsPrinciples of Human Rights of Women
◦ Universal and Inalienable: all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights;
◦ Indivisible: inherent to the dignity of every human being whether in civil, cultural, economic, political or social issues;
◦ Interdependent and interrelated: the fulfillment of one right often depends, wholly or in part upon the fulfillment of others;
◦ All individuals are equal as human beings by virtue of the inherent dignity of each human person
◦ Rights-based approach principles
Chapter II: Definition of TermsChapter II: Definition of Terms Defines Discrimination Against Women in accordance with the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW):◦ any gender-based distinction, exclusion, or restriction which
has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field;
◦ any act or omission, including by law, policy, administrative measure, or practice, that directly or indirectly excludes or restricts women in the recognition and promotion of their rights and their access to and enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges;
◦ a measure or practice of general application that fails to provide for mechanisms to offset or address sex or gender-based disadvantages or limitations of women …; and
◦ discrimination compounded by or intersecting with other grounds, status, or condition, such as ethnicity, age, poverty, or religion.
Chapter III: Duties Related to the Chapter III: Duties Related to the Human Rights of WomenHuman Rights of Women
Provides that the State, private sector, society in general, and all individuals shall contribute to the recognition, respect and promotion of the rights of women defined and guaranteed under the Act.
The Chapter also includes the following sections:◦ The State as the Primary Duty-Bearer◦ Duties of the State Agencies and Instrumentalities◦ Suppletory Effect
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentHuman Rights of Women include
all rights in the Constitution and those rights recognized under international instruments duly signed and ratified by the Philippines, in consonance with Philippine law, which shall be enjoyed without discrimination
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentRight to Protection from
Violence, including those committed by the State◦ Incremental increase in the recruitment
and training of women in fields that provide services for women victims of gender-related offenses (50-50 in police force..)
◦ Protection and security in situations of armed conflict and militarization
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and Empowerment`(cont...) Right to Protection from Violence,
including those committed by the State◦ Mandatory human rights and gender-sensitivity
training for all government personnel involved in the protection and defense of women against gender-based violence
◦ Establishment of VAW Desk in every barangay
Right to protection and security in times of disasters, calamities, and other crisis situations especially in all phases of relief, recovery, rehabilitation and construction efforts, including protection from sexual exploitation.
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentRight to participation and representation: includes
undertaking temporary special measures and affirmative actions to accelerate and ensure women’s equitable participation and representation in third level civil service (50-50) , development councils and planning bodies, international bodies, political parties, private sector, and other policy and decision-making bodies.
Right to equal treatment before the law – requires review and, if necessary, amendment or repeal of laws that are discriminatory to women within three (3) years from the effectivity of the MCW
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and Empowerment
◦ Use of gender-sensitive language and revision of gender stereotypes and images in educational materials and curricula
◦ Encouraging enrollment of women in non-traditional skills training in vocational and tertiary levels
◦ Outlawing the expulsion and non-readmission of women faculty due to pregnancy outside of marriage
◦ Prohibiting schools from turning out or refusing admission to a female student solely on the account of her having contracted pregnancy outside of marriage during her term in school.
• Right to equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarships, and training:
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and Empowerment• Right to equal participation in sports
– measures to ensure that gender-based discrimination in competitive and non-competitive sports is removed so that women and girls can benefit from sports development
• Non-discriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women in media and film– to raise the consciousness of the general public in
recognizing the dignity of women and the role and contribution of women in family, community, and the society through the strategic use of mass media
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentRight to non-discrimination in employment
in the field of military, police and other similar services:◦ according the same promotional privileges and
opportunities as their men counterpart, including pay increases, additional benefits, and awards, based on competency and quality of performance;
◦ the dignity of women in the military, police and other similar services shall always be respected;
◦ they shall be accorded with the same capacity as men to act in and enter into contracts, including marriage; they shall be entitled to leave benefits for women such as maternity leave, as provided for in existing laws;
Chapter IV: Rights and Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentEmpowerment
Right to Health◦A. Comprehensive Health Services
ensures access to the following services: Maternal care to include pre and post natal
services to address pregnancy and infant health and nutrition
Promotion of breastfeeding Responsible, ethical, legal, safe and
effective methods of family planning Family and State collaboration in youth
sexuality education and health services
Chapter IV: Rights and Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentEmpowerment
Right to Health◦A. Comprehensive Health Services
ensures access to the following services: Prevention and management of RTI, STD and
HIV/AIDS Prevention and management of reproductive
tract cancers and other gynecological conditions and disorders
Prevention of abortion and management of pregnancy-related complications
Chapter IV: Rights and Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentEmpowerment
Right to Health◦A. Comprehensive Health Services
ensures access to the following services: Services for survivors of VAW Prevention and management of infertility
and sexual dysfunction pursuant to ethical norms and standards
Care of the elderly women beyond their child-bearing years
Management, treatment and intervention of mental health problems or women and girls
Promotion of healthy lifestyle activities
Chapter IV: Rights and Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentEmpowerment
Right to Health◦B. Comprehensive health information
and education on all aspects of women’s health referred to in para. A, for women in all sectors, with due regard to: Natural and primary right and duty of parents
in rearing the youth Formation of a person’s sexuality that affirms
human dignity Ethical, legal, safe and effective family
planning methods including fertility awareness
Chapter IV: Rights and Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentEmpowerment
Right to Special leave benefits◦ two (2) months with full pay based on
gross monthly compensation, for women employees who undergo surgery caused by gynecological disorders, provided that they have rendered continuous aggregate employment service of at least six (6) months for the last twelve (12) months;
Chapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentChapter IV: Rights and EmpowermentEqual rights in all matters relating to marriage
and family relations - the State shall ensure the same rights of women and men to:◦ enter into and leave marriages;◦ freely choose a spouse and to enter into
marriage only with their free and full consent;◦ decide on the number and spacing of
their children;◦ enjoy personal rights including the choice of
profession, own, acquire, and administer their property; and
◦ acquire, change or retain their nationality
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized Sectors
Right to Food Security and Productive Resources, including equal right in the titling of the land and issuance of stewardship contracts and patents;
Right to localized, accessible, secure and affordable housing;
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized SectorsRight to Decent Work, which include the right to:
◦ Support services and gears to protect women from occupational and health hazards taking into account their maternal functions;
◦ Support services that will enable work and family life balance;
◦ Union membership;◦ Respect for the observance of indigenous cultural
practices even in the workplace
The law also mandates to State to:◦ Ensure decent work standards for women that involve
the creation of jobs of acceptable quality in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity;
◦ Exert efforts to create local employment and other economic opportunities to address out-migration
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized SectorsRight to Livelihood, Credit, Capital, and
Technology◦ Equal access to formal sources of credit and
capital;◦ Equal share to the produce of farms and aquatic
resources;◦ Skills and entrepreneurship development of
returning women migrant workers
Right to skills training and scholarships, especially in research and development aimed towards women-friendly farm technology;
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized SectorsRight to representation and participation in
policy-making or decision-making bodies in the regional, national, and international levels, including ensuring the participation of grassroots women leaders in decision and policy making bodies in their respective sectors like:◦ Presidential Agrarian Reform Council and its local
counterparts;◦ National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management
Council;◦ Community-based resource management bodies or
mechanisms on forest management and stewardship;◦ National Commission on Indigenous Peoples;◦ Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor;◦ National Anti-Poverty Commission; and◦ Local Housing Boards (where applicable)
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized SectorsRight to access to information regarding policies on
women, including programs, projects and funding outlays that affect them
Right to Social Protection◦ SSS and Philhealth support to indigenous and community-
based social protection schemes;◦ Institutionalization of policies and programs that seek to
reduce the poverty and vulnerability to risks and enhance the social status and right of the marginalized women;
◦ The State is also mandated to: Endeavor to reduce and eventually eliminate transfer costs of
remittances and provide access to investment opportunities for remittances in line with national development efforts
Establish health insurance program for senior citizens and indigents
Support women with disabilities on a community-based social protection scheme
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized SectorsRecognition and Preservation of Cultural
Identity and IntegrityPeace and Development
◦ Participation in discussions and decision-making in the peace process
◦ Inclusion of women’s concerns in the peace agenda◦ Consideration for the specific needs of women and girls in
the protection of civilians in conflict-affected communities◦ Inclusion of peace perspective in education
curriculum◦ Recognition and support for women’s role in conflict-
preventions, management and resolution and peacemaking, and in indigenous systems of conflict resolution
Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment Chapter V: Rights and Empowerment of Marginalized Sectorsof Marginalized Sectors
Services and Interventions for women in especially difficult circumstances (WEDC)
Protection of Girl-Children – measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against girl-children in education, health and nutrition and skills development
Protection of women Senior Citizens from neglect, abandonment, domestic violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination
The Magna Carta of Women also The Magna Carta of Women also provides for the:provides for the:
Recognition and protection of women’s rights defined under the Act, including their right to non-discrimination;
Prohibition of discrimination against women
Chapter VI: Institutional Chapter VI: Institutional MechanismsMechanismsGender Mainstreaming as a strategy to
implement the Magna Carta of Women◦ Assessment and if necessary, modification of the
gender mainstreaming program to ensure that it will be an effective strategy for implementing the MCW
◦ GAD planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation◦ COA’s conduct of annual audit on the use of the GAD
budget◦ Creation/strengthening of GAD Focal Points
Gender Focal Point Officer in Philippine Embassies and Consulates
Chapter VI: Institutional Chapter VI: Institutional MechanismsMechanismsStrengthens the National Commission on the Role
of Filipino women (NCRFW) as the government's policy making and coordinating body on women's empowerment and gender equality concerns, and renames it to Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)
Designates the Commission on Human Rights as Gender and Development (GAD) Ombud, to act on investigations and complaints of discrimination and violations of women's rights
Monitoring of progress and implementation
Chapter VI: Institutional Chapter VI: Institutional MechanismsMechanisms
Penal provisions◦ If the violation is committed by a government agency or any government office,
including government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units, the person directly responsible for the violation, as well as the head of the agency or local chief executive shall be held liable under the Magna Carta of Women. The sanctions under administrative law, civil service or other appropriate laws shall be recommended by the Commission on Human Rights to the Civil Service Commission and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Further, in cases where violence has been proven to be perpetrated by agents of the State, such shall be considered aggravating offenses with corresponding penalties depending on the severity of the offenses.
◦ If the violation is committed by a private entity or individual, the person directly responsible for the violation shall be liable to pay damages.
◦ Further, the offended party can also pursue other remedies available under the law and can invoke any of the other provisions of existing laws, especially those that protect the rights of women.
Chapter VI: Institutional Chapter VI: Institutional MechanismsMechanisms
Establishment of incentives and awards systems
Funding: 5% GAD budget to be utilized for programs and activities to implement the MCW. The Magna Carta of Women also mandates the State to prioritize allocation of all available resources to effectively fulfill its obligations under the said law.
Chapter VI: Institutional Chapter VI: Institutional MechanismsMechanisms
Implementing rules and regulations shall be formulated within 180 days after effectivitySeparability clauseRepealing clauseEffectivity clause – the Act shall take effect fifteen days (15) after its publication in at least two (2)
newspapers of general circulation
Republic Act No. 9710 was published in the 31 August 2009 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
and Malaya newspapers