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FREEDOM FROM FEAR Setting Up and Sustaining a Quick Response Team for VAW in your LGU

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Freedom from Fear: Establishing a Quick Response Team for Violence Against Women A Guide for Local Government Setting Up and Sustaining a Quick Response Team for VAW in your LGU Copyright Š 2003 Philippines-Canada Local Government Support Program (LGSP) All rights reserved The Philippines-Canada Local Government Support Program encourages the use, translation, adaptation and copying of this material for non-commercial use, with appropriate credit given to LGSP. Although reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the publisher and/or contributor and/or editor can accept any liability for any consequence arising from the use thereof or from any information contained herein.

ISBN 971-92687-2-7 Printed and bound in Manila, Philippines Published by: Philippines-Canada Local Government Support program (LGSP) Unit 1507 Jollibee Plaza Emerald Avenue, Pasig City 1600 Philippines Tel. Nos. (632) 637 3511-13 www.lgsp.org.ph This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

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contents Part One: Setting Up a Quick Response Team for VAW Basic Requirements

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Seven Steps in Setting up a QRT

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Step 1:

Mobilize stakeholders, Create your QRT

Step 2:

Obtain a mandate and strengthen QRT support

Step 4:

14 Mobilize financial resources18 Build capacities, train people 21

Step 5:

Assess community needs and identify the services that your QRT

through local legislations Step 3:

will provide Step 6: Step 7:

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30 Inform the public 35 Develop protocols

A Summary Note

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Part Two: Ensuring the Sustainability of your QRT

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Some Reminders on Ensuring your QRT’s Sustainability Beyond QRTs: Adopting Complementary Programs

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Tract 1: Provide an Enabling Environment for Effective QRT Response

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Tract 2: Adopt Equally Important Gender Responsive Governance Projects Tract 3: Work to Achieve Critical GAD Mainstreaming Indicators

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54 References 55 A Final Note

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acronyms BCPC CAPIU CHO/MHO Combat-VAW CSWDO/MSWDO DAWN DILG DOH DSWD DV FV GAD HASIK, Inc LGU NEDA NGO PEAT PNP PO QRT QRT4 RH TUCP VAW

Barangay Council for the Protection of Children Child Abuse Prevention and Intervention Units City/Municipal Health Office Combat Violence Against Women City/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer Development through Active Women Networking Foundation, Inc Department of Interior and Local Government Department of Health Department of Social Welfare and Development Domestic Violence Family Violence Gender and Development Harnessing Self-Reliant Initiatives and Knowledge, Inc Local Government Unit National Economic and Development Agency Non-government Organization People’s Efficiency and Transparency Philippine National Police People’s Organization Quick Response Team Freedom From Fear: Book Four Reproductive Health Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Violence Against Women

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So how do we actually set

up our own QRT?

partONE Setting Up a Quick Response Team For VAW

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D

istilled from the experience of other LGUs and NGOs, Part I of QRT4 provides a step by step guide on how to set up a Quick Response Team for VAW and RH in your city, municipality, province and/or barangay.

basic requirements

You need to meet four Basic Requirements an follow a Seven-Step Guide to establishing a multi-level QRT that will address VAW and RH concerns in your area.

1. Structure

BASIC REQUIREMENTS WHEN SETTING UP THE QUICK RESPONSE STRUCTURES

2. Capacity-building

1. A Structure

Program 3. A Set of Protocols 4. Financial Support

Set up a structure composed of basic service providers at the municipal or the city level; and barangay officials and volunteers at the barangay level. Your service providers are the different departments in your LGU providing basic services like the municipal health office and the municipal social welfare and development office.

Note that similar efforts in the past were initiated, supported, implemented and sustained either by the local government unit or non-government/people's organizations.You are encouraged to initiate the project on your own. But you can also partner with a non-government organization that can provide the impetus for such initiative. Some examples of these are: LGU-Initiated:

Valenzuela, Balayan

NGO/PO-Initiated: Lihok Pilipino-Bantay Banay LGU/NGO-Initiated: Sipalay and Escalante LGUs and DAWN (See QRT 3)

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2. A Capacity-Building Program Provide a capacity-building program for members of the QRT to increase their awareness and gender sensitivity; as well as to give them the necessary skills to adequately respond to issues and provide support to VAW victims.

3. A Set of Protocols Develop a set of protocols that will guide your LGU’s response to VAW and the services it will offer.

4. Financial Support Ensure steady financial support from the local government unit at the barangay or municipal levels for services for women victims. This, you can do by getting members of the team to formulate a Gender and Development project plan with corresponding budgets and then submitting this for approval to the Sangguniang Bayan or to other funding sources.

SEVEN STEPS IN SETTING UP A QRT Here is a more detailed walk through of the steps you need to take to set up your own QRT 1. Mobilize stakeholders, create your QRT 2. Obtain a mandate and strengthen QRT support through local legislation 3. Mobilize financial resources 4. Build capacities, train people 5. Assess community needs and identify the services that your QRT will provide 6. Develop protocols 7. Inform the public

seven

Steps

1. Mobilize stakeholders, create your QRT 2. Obtain a mandate and strengthen QRT support through local legislation 3. Mobilize financial resources 4. Build capacities, train people 5. Assess community needs and identify the services that your QRT will provide 6. Develop protocols 7. Inform the public These steps do not need to come one after the other. They can be undertaken simultaneously or can be skipped depending on existing structures and available resources.

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stepone Mobilize Stakeholders, Create your QRT The most important thing you need in setting up a QRT is not money. It's people — hardworking, committed and focused people who are willing to support you on this project. So, as a first step, ◗ You mobilize stakeholders for a QRT on VAW. ◗ You create the QRT structure.

MOBILIZING LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS This means getting enough people on the same side— that which recognizes the importance of the project.

"You don't need a lot of money to start a QRT. What you need are good people who are willing to do the work."

Mayor Santiago Barcelona, Escalante City

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You need to start with the people who are already routinely handling cases of VAW, family violence and reproductive health as part of their responsibility, which include the: ◗ Local Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO/MSWDO) ◗ Municipal/City Health Officer ◗ Local Police Chief/ PNP Women's Desk Officer ◗ Local City/Municipal Council Members ◗ Barangay officials ◗ Barangay Health Workers You may want to get in touch with the following people outside the local government unit.

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The City Prosecutor/Fiscal Judges Hospital and Medical Personnel Women's Organizations NGOs Schoolteachers Media Other Service Providers

Get as many representatives from government and nongovernment offices to sit down and discuss the issue of VAW and RH. Then, generate interest and enthusiasm of key people for a project like QRT that can respond to VAW and RH concerns.

By getting the commitment of as many stakeholders to support such a project, you can set up a QRT

CREATING YOUR QRT The QRT can be a smaller group, consisting of those who will provide the leadership and oversight functions, assist you in the setting up phase, and deliver the actual services.

a QRT structure

To be effective, you will need a Network of Service Providers or an Inter-agency Committee at the city or municipal level; and a Community-Based QRT at the barangay level.

1. City/Municipal level: Network of service providers or interagency committee or 5 Pillars of Justice

The membership of the QRT and the number of QRT service providers will vary depending on the following: 1. the QRT services you want to offer 2. the size of the area you want to reach (the entire city or selected barangays) 3. the number of available people

2. Barangay level: Community-based QRT composed of barangay officials, volunteers, and Gender and Development Focal Points

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How big should a QRT be?

The Mapulang Lupa Women's Desk has a staff of 19 – one WD facilitator and 18 community-based crisis workers.

The Barangay 3 QRT, on the other hand, has more than 40, from barangay tanods to private doctors in the barangay.

In Sipalay and Escalante in Negros Occidental, an initial 7-10 barangay representatives from 4 barangays are undergoing trainings to set up the QRT. These first batch of QRT members will then be responsible for training other barangays.

The CAPIU Model in Albay, on the other hand, consists of only 7-10 members per municipality/city.

These are the heads of the 5 Pillars of Justice in the community - the CSWDO, the Police, the Court, the Prosecution, the BJMP, and NGO representatives. The CAPIU extends to the general staff of these offices, including the social workers, the doctors, the lawyers, the police personnel, the NGO workers.

4. the amount of resources you can access 5. and other socio-demographic and political factors.

The Network of Service Providers or the Inter-agency Committee can take care of a wider range of VAW and RH cases, while the Community-based QRT at the barangay level can address family violence and provide RH counseling.

When creating a QRT, what you need to keep in mind is that you do not want to re-invent the wheel. Creating another committee, agency, body or unit to add on to already existing units is often a waste of time and resources.

Tap already existing structures and mechanisms for the QRT. This means that if all of these people are already meeting regularly or talking to each other on other, similar issues, you can utilize these existing structures and mechanisms.

Some existing structures you can tap: GAD Focal Point. If you have a GAD Focal Point Person in the LGU, that person can serve as overall coordinator of the QRT. Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children.

Are the Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children or BCPCs already organized in your barangays?

If they are, then you might want to get the BCPCs into your QRT to serve as the barangay-based QRTs. This would mean expanding the role of the BCPC to respond to cases of family violence and undertake RH counseling. You save on identifying a new set of people.

PNP Women and Children's Desk. Every PNP office has one. You can therefore tap the desk officers to serve in the QRT. The case documentation they undertake and the training provided to the desk personnel can

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serve as valuable inputs to the QRT. All you need to do is to integrate these in the team's work.

City/Provincial/Regional Council for the Welfare of Children and Women and Family Commissions. This is a multi-sectoral body that often consists of local chief executives, LGU line agencies and departments like the Provincial/City/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, the City Health Office, the BCPCs, NGOs, religious organizations, media and other service providers. It usually meets every quarter and has its own budget allocation from the city, provincial or regional development council.

Barangay LGU, People's Organizations, Civic Organizations. You can also look at the Barangay Local Development Council or a people's or civic organization in your barangay as a possible existing structure and organization that you can tap to take on the new responsibility of being your communitybased QRT. This has the advantage of having people with some degree of experience in organizing, advocacy and legal and administrative responsibilities, as well as holding a certain degree of authority and credibility in the barangay.

Existing structures in the LGU which you can tap for your QRT 1. GAD Focal Point 2. Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children 3. PNP Women and Children’s Desk 4. City/Provincial/Regional Council for the Welfare of Children, and Women & Family Commissions 5. Barangay, POs, and other civic organizations

At the minimum, get the people directly handling cases of VAW into the group. This means: At the city or municipal level: - CSWDO/MSWDO - PNP - Local Health Office - Local Council - Other members of the five pillars of justice (regional trial court, municipal jail) At the barangay level: - Barangay captains and kagawads - Barangay health workers - Day-care workers - Lupong Tagapamayapa

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steptwo Get a Local Mandate and Strengthen QRT Support through Local Legislation You initially need an LGU resolution mandating the creation of a QRT and supporting the LGU's efforts to partner with other government agencies and nongovernment organizations on the project.

This will provide the project with the necessary political leverage and LGU mandate.

Once the QRT has been set up, another local legislation supporting the QRT has to be passed, delineating its functions, designating its members and allocating resources and funds for it.

Through local legislation, you ensure that the QRT has official LGU resources, including the sourcing of funds from various LGU budget items, such as the 5% GAD budget allocation in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA). You can also designate a GAD Focal Point in the LGU as a legal entry point, and include the QRT as one of the functions of the GAD Focal Point.

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Examples of Anti-VAW/GAD Ordinance ◗ Ordinance Penalizing Domestic Violence as Defined Providing Protective Measures and Other Services (O# 1944 Cebu City, August 14, 2002) ◗ Ordinance Establishing the Cebu City Children's Code and for Other Purposes (O#1922, Cebu City, Nov 21, 2001) ◗ Ordinance Amending Section 4 of Ordinance Creating the Cebu City Women's and Family Affairs Commission, as Mended by Ordinance Nos 1702 & 1704, (O# 1935, Cebu City, June 5, 2002v ◗ Ordinance Promoting the Welfare of Women, Creating for the Purpose, the Provincial Council for Women, (O# 54, Negros Occidental), ◗ Ordinance Providing for the Gender and Development Code of Cebu City (O#1841, Cebu City. August 26, 2001)

Ordinance: a local law that prescribes rules of conduct of a general application and permanent nature. It has a force of and effect of law and continues in force until repealed or superseded by a subsequent law.

Example of A Resolution Creating A QRT A resolution accepting the proposed project of DAWN Foundation establishing a community-based Quick Response Team on Domestic Violence and Reproductive Health counseling in the Local Government Unit to respond to cases of violence against women and children in the community especially at the barangay level. (R#2002-052, Sipalay City, June 4, 2002)

Resolution: a mere expression of legislative opinion or sentiment.

It is temporary in character, and is limited in its application. While an ordinance pertains to governmental functions, a resolution usually relates to matters of administration of the Sanggunian and private concerns

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stepthree Mobilize Financial Resources for the QRT YOU WILL NEED FUNDS FOR THE FOLLOWING: Training and Capacity-building activities for members of the QRT, such as: a. Gender sensitivity training b. Seminars on VAW, RH and family violence c. Para-legal training d. Protocol formulation Services that will be provided by the QRT in the form of a. A women's help desk that will provide counseling, referral, paralegal and legal services b. A media and advocacy program against VAW c. Reproductive Health Counseling Infrastructure that has to be set up to address VAW and provide RH counseling a. Office space or physical structure that can be used as office, temporary shelter, counseling room, documentation/interview room, medical examination room, library and other needs and services you would decide on for your QRT b. Vehicle that can be used by the QRT if it needs to conduct home visits, information campaign

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Administrative and Operating Costs This includes utilities, transportation, communication, and documentation.

You do not need all the funds right away. During start-up, a big part of the funds will go to mobilizing and capacity-building activities. Then, you will need funds for salaries and day-to-day expenses of the women's help desk, which will include transportation and communication. Infrastructure like a women's center can be a more long-term goal given more resources.

Fortunately too, you have several fund sources at your disposal. A primary source is the GAD budget.

Current GAD mainstreaming efforts push for ensuring GAD concerns in all departmental budgets. As such, all departments in the LGU should have funds for women projects. Various components of the project can thus be taken on by the budget of the different departments.

If your LGU is still unaware of GAD mainstreaming initiative, your LGU can decide to maintain the 5% GAD budget, which can be a definite source of funds for this project.

Other feasible funding sources include: a. Social development fund on the 20% development fund of your LGU b. Congressional fund-while congressional funds amount to millions of pesos, these are usually untapped for social service programs, which would only require minimal funding but would have direct impact to the constituents. A city, municipal, or barangay council resolution endorsing the program to the congressional district for funding may be passed.

The GAD Budget First, we need to shake off some misconceptions. â—— The GAD Budget is not a separate lump sum amount that you have to take out of your total budget and then set aside for projects for women. â—— Gender and Development should not be treated as a separate project, but rather a guiding principle that informs all LGU projects, programs and activities.

The GAD budget appropriation therefore, need not be for a separate project, but may be integrated in larger, existing projects. LGUs, however, often fail or forget or do not know how to ensure that local programs and projects are gender-fair and gender-responsive.

The GAD budget appropriation helps to remind and push local government officials to ensure that their projects and programs have gender responsive components, that they do not reinforce or add to existing inequalities between men and women or that they do not marginalize women in any way.

Remember also that the GAD budget amount of 5% is just the minimum. The amount you spend for gender-fair and gender responsive projects such as the QRT can legally go beyond 5%!

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c. The 5% Gender and Development Appropriation

How to use the GADbudget for the QRT

by Hon Councilor Celia Flor

The QRT core group can craft a QRT program and endorse this to the local chief executive and the municipal council. Within these levels, a GAD champion can be identified and asked to sponsor the program and to push for appropriation ordinances as part of the municipal GAD plan or GAD mainstreaming effort, citing the DBM local memo, the WIN law, the GAA. The QRT core group can also give an orientation to the council so that the council will appreciate the program. As much as possible, the program should be part of the GAD plan or GAD mainstreaming activities of an LGU, and be incorporated in the local development plan, the investment plan and the executive budget.

Advocates may also lobby within the local development council's sectoral committees for the program's inclusion in the local development plan.

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d. The program can be submitted to local and international donors for funding. This may be initiated by a non-government organization, barangay or municipal women advocates, or both as partners. e. The LGU, as initiator, may solicit counterparting or partnership from its constituency. f. Corporate or Company sponsorships: - meals can be sponsored by food companies - socio-civic clubs may sponsor some training, - co-sponsorships with media institutions for media advocacy g. Barangay budgets – the community-based QRT can be funded from barangay budgets, which also has GAD appropriations.

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stepfour Train People, Build Capacities The effectiveness of a quick response structure hinges on the level of understanding as well as the skills of its implementors. Often, the capacities of members of the QRT to handle cases and assist victims of abuse are uneven and have to be enhanced through training programs.

Capacity building is thus a critical step to QRT formation. The depth and kinds of capacity building implemented by existing models vary depending on the approach and resources available to its implementers.

For example, Lihok Pilipina runs three basic training programs for Bantay-Banay. DAWN Foundation ran a year-long capacity building program for Sipalay and Escalante in setting up the (1) multi-agency network of caregivers and service providers and (2) community based quick response team.

Since Bantay-Banay is community-based, the focus of their training is raising the gender and VAW awareness of community members. The DAWN QRT targets enhanced multi-sectoral LGU participation and responsiveness to VAW and RH issues.

The table below compares the different trainings undergone by QRT members in different QRT models.

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Comparing the Different QRT Training Programs DAWN Model

Bantay Banay Model

Basic Modules:

Basic Modules:

◗ Basic Gender Sensitivity

◗ Basic Gender Sensitivity

Training ◗ Seminar Orientation on Violence Against Women & Philippine Laws on VAW ◗ Seminar on Pillars of Justice ◗ Barangay Justice System ◗ Para-legal Training ◗ Feminist Counseling ◗ Case Management ◗ Protocol Development ◗ Reproductive Health and Sexuality

Training ◗ Seminar on Violence Against Women ◗ Paralegal Training

Supplemental Modules: ◗ Stress Management

Supplemental Modules: ◗ Community Organizing ◗ Project Management ◗ RH/Sexuality case manage-

ment

Other Models of QRTs Counseling Para-legal Training Preparation for litigation, gathering evidence, interviewing, affidavit making, documentation and negotiation TUCP/HASIK: Orientation workshop on crisis intervention Legal literacy training on VAWGAD, VAW, Counseling, Stress Management

◗ Identifying child abuse red

flags ◗ GAD Planning and Budgeting ◗ People's Efficiency and Transparency (PEAT Monitoring)

CAPIU-Albay Training on the Five Pillars of Justice Case Management Media Advocacy Medico-legal Training

◗ Team Building ◗ Monitoring and Evaluation

LGUs that want to set up their QRTs can decide to conduct only a few basic training programs if resources are limited. Drawing from existing models, the minimum set of training programs that will lay the foundation for a genderized response against VAW include:

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Minimum Set of Training Modules for your QRT Training

Objectives

Possible Resource Persons/NGOs (See Annexes For Complete Listings)

Basic Gender Sensitivity Training

To help participants become more gender-sensitive

Women's Crisis Center - QC HASIK-QC Dawn Foundation - Bacolod LIHOK Pilipina-Cebu Group Foundation - Misamis Or. Cope Foundation- Bicol Regional NEDA

Orientation on VAW, Family Violence and Reproductive Health

◗ To deepen participants’ understanding of the causes and consequences of family violence, domestic violence ◗ To help participants see importance of addressing FV/DV and RH. ◗ To orient participants on strategies for responding to FV/DV and RH ◗ To heighten awareness of existing services to address FV/DV and RH as well as existing gaps in service delivery

Lihok Pilipina HASIK DAWN DOH

Orientation on the national laws and local justice system and processes (can be broken up into two courses)

◗ To deepen understanding of the legal system, national and local ◗ To deepen understanding of existing laws as well as gaps in the law related to addressing DV/FV ◗ To deepen understanding of local legal processes at work that relate to DV/FV

SALIGAN DAWN Foundation DILG

Para-legal training

To provide basic skills on providing legal assistance to VAW survivors

Women's Legal Education. Advocacy and Defense Foundation, Inc. SALIGAN

Development of QRT Protocols and a referral/case management system

To capacitate participants to develop their own protocols and systems in operating the QRT

Dawn Foundation LIHOK Pilipina DSWD

Counseling/Case Management

To equip participants with basic skills in different types of counseling for clients of the QRT

Dawn Foundation LIHOK Pilipina Women's Crisis Center DSWD

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If external funding can be sourced, LGUs can also implement additional capacity building programs that will meet perceived skills and knowledge needs of members of the QRT. The LGU can tap local NGOs that have the expertise to conduct these training programs or provide trainors or resource persons. The training can be undertaken on two levels.

Level One: A trainors training can be conducted for service providers in the LGU who can also be trained to provide the basic training for barangay QRTs. Level Two: Then, the pool of trainors can run the basic training programs themselves for the barangays.

From the DAWN and HASIK experience, it is best to involve the whole barangay council, as they are the frontliners in the community.

To further minimize on costs, barangays may be clustered for coordination and counterparting. On the other hand, there are some trainings like the Orientation for the BCPC, the Barangay Justice System and even the Five Pillars of Justice that can be requested from the Department of Interior and Local Government, NEDA, or DSWD. If training funds are limited, there are many available very comprehensive training manuals that can be used as reference for the pool of local trainors like: ◗ HUDYAT: A Training Manual for COMBAT-VAW by Harnessing Self-Reliant Initiatives and Knowledge (HASIK) ◗ Hulagpos: Breaking Free: A VAW Prevention Handbook by Arugaan ng Kalakasan (Kalakasan) ◗ Manual ng Paralegal: Karahasan Laban sa Kababaihan

by SALIGAN ◗ Handbook ng mga Legal Advocates Tungo sa Pagsugpo ng Karahasan Laban sa Kababaihan at Komunidad by the Women's Legal Bureau, Inc., 1988

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This manual also provides a set of modules drawn directly from the DAWN experience, which can be used as reference for trainors. Please refer to Freedom from Fear Training Manual (QRTS) accompanying this volume.

How much will a training cost?

Estimates by DAWN, Bacolod City, 2002 Prices, with 30 participants Minimum Cost of the Training Meals & snacks-P80/pax/day P 2400 Supplies--P30/pa 900 Resource Person 250/hr x 8hrs2000 Venue: LGU hall Lodging: optional, and in most cases, trainings should be conducted within the community Equipment: may be provided by agencies within the LGU Sub-total One and a half day trainings Meals & snacks–P140/pax/day Supplies–P30/pax Resource person Sub-total Average cost of training One day training for 30 participants Meals and snacks–P150/pax/day Supplies–30/pax Resource person–250/hr x 8 hrs

P 5300/day

P 4200 900 P 3000 P 8100

P 4500 900 P 2000

Total For 11/2 days, plus half day cost

P 7400 P 3250

Total

P 10650

A minimum provision for two (2) one-and-a-half-day trainings and three (3) one-day trainings would be sufficient for a functioning QRT, and will have a minimum cost of P32,100 or an average cost of P45,500 a year.

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stepfive Assess Community Needs in Relation to VAW and RH, and Identify the Services that your QRT will Provide ASSESSING COMMUNITY NEEDS AND THE STATE OF SERVICE DELIVERY Next, the Core Group needs to conduct a two-pronged assessment.

Assessment One: Local Situationer on VAW and RH You should put together a local situationer on VAW, RH and other women issues. It will be helpful to do the assessment using gender tools, at the same time, asking agencies like PNP and DSWD to provide available statistics.

To ensure that the assessment is sharp and gendersensitive, conduct the assessment after representatives of agencies and barangays have undergone the gender sensitivity and VAW seminars. While in the beginning, we say that steps need not come one after the other, we make an important exception here.

GAD tools that can be used to put together a women situationer includes:

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◗ Seasonal Calendar – a participatory tool to identify the different productive and reproductive tasks men and women do at different times of the year. ◗ Task-time analysis – a participatory tool to identify the different productive and reproductive tasks men and women do at different times of the day ◗ Reproductive-Productive Divide Analysis – an analytic tool to identify patterns in what reproductive and productive work men and women do, using the results of the seasonal calendar and the task time analysis ◗ Asset-access Control Analysis – a participatory tool to help men and women map out the resources of the community and identify differential access and control by the sexes ◗ Problem Tree – a participatory tool to help men and women identify their problems, how similar and dissimilar they are, while tracing their root causes ◗ Needs Analysis – a participatory tool to help men and women identify their needs based on the problem tree results.

Non-government organizations with genderrelated advocacies can be tapped to orient you about these tools.

The assessment should help you zero in on the more urgent VAW and RH needs that should be addressed by the project.

The situational analysis will also help you identify barangays that have high family or domestic violence incidence, which you can prioritize. This means that you do not have to establish a barangay-based quick response team in all your barangays, but in strategic areas depending on your situational analysis on accessibility, incidence, barangay support and available resources.

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Possible Guide questions when assessing available services: By the DAWN Foundation

◗ What are the services available for VAW victims? ◗ What is the current flow of services for VAW clients at the departmental level?

Barangay level? ◗ What are the common barangay practices vis-à-vis VAW and RH counseling? ◗ To whom are clients referred? What is done by the police? ◗ What have been the problems and difficulties?

Reproductive Health Counseling or RH Counseling is

◗ face to face communication between a trained counselor and a client

◗ focused on the reproductive health needs and options of client. ◗ different from other types of counseling because it is specifically focused on providing reproductive health care to the client, such as what family planning options she can choose from, what care her child or herself needs, what type of food to eat during pregnancy.

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Assessment Two: State of Service Delivery Next, an in-depth assessment of state of services currently available for VAW or RH counseling should be undertaken, both at the city/municipal and barangay level. This will help you identify service gaps and needs that you will need to address at both levels.

IDENTIFYING THE SERVICES THAT YOUR QRT WILL PROVIDE Based on your assessment of available services and the situation of women in your LGU, you should now decide on the services that your QRT can provide.

The different QRT models developed in the past (see QRT3) are in varying levels of sophistication in terms of the programs and services they offer to the community. Their experiences can provide information about the range of services and programs which QRTs can implement.

Your services can be two-pronged. At the city or municipal level, the network of service providers can deliver services to address a wider range of VAW cases, including: ◗ ◗ ◗ ◗ ◗

Medico-legal Assistance during the hearings Shelter Livelihood Assistance to victims Psychosocial counseling

In contrast to the municipal or city level which can provide a wider range of services, at the barangay level, your community-based QRT can set up a women's or a GAD desk that provides direct assistance to victims of family violence

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food temporary shelter transportation counseling referrals RH counseling

Providing temporary shelters for victims of abuse can be problematic especially if there is no crisis center in the city or municipality.

Only the regional DSWD personnel has the mandate to house clients temporarily in their own residence.

Local DSSD workers who do not have the mandate can be accused of illegal detention by perpetuators. At the barangay level, the security of the clients and the QRT members can be at stake if victims are housed within the neighborhood. An efficient referral system therefore has to be in place (Please refer to step 6).

This will also address the limited resource base at the barangay level; and will make victim assistance more affordable for the barangay. Depending on available resources and the vision-mission of the QRT, other services and programs can be offered including: 1. Advocacy against VAW - fora - tri media campaign - community billboards/posters 2. Mainstreaming of VAW as a Governance Issue 3. Networking/Alliance building - meetings - travel 4. Communications - radio systems 5. Documentation - record keeping of cases - regular meetings

Some of the Existing Problems in Service Delivery Pre-QRT: Results of Assessment on Existing Services (Results of Workshops Using Question Run

by DAWN in Sipalay and Escalante)

Barangay level - Difficulties in keeping case confidential - Lack of financial support - Limited counseling skills - Conflicts with the victim's family - Fear of reprisal, being implicated - Difficulties in sustaining witness or even victims - Lack of knowledge about the law PNP - No women's desk - Police not gender sensitive - Indifference or biases of police officers - Limited accommodations in the PNP headquarters CHO - No women doctor to examine patient - Lack of gender-sensitive doctor - No doctor available CSWD - Not enough trained staff for case management - Competing demands - Lack of crisis room or safe house - Pressure of influential people related to the abuser - Victim does not pursue the case because of amicable settlement, fear of financial burden, shame and unsupportive family members - Lack of community support - Difficulties to do follow-up because of limited staff Prosecution - Case overload - Does not remember, keep track or monitor status of the case Court/RTC - Delays in hearing the case

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stepsix Develop Protocols Together with other community stakeholders, develop a set of protocols or procedures that will define QRT interventions and services.

Protocols are the guiding principles and procedures that will be adopted by the QRT Core Group and its other members.

You can review available protocols and tailor-fit them to your needs and situation. This manual provides a set of protocols, which has been developed by Sipalay, Escalante and Bacolod for your reference.

If your LGU has extra resources, the QRT can undertake a visioning and protocol development workshop.

PROTOCOLS CONTAIN: 1. The General Guiding Principles consisting of the QRT's vision, mission and objectives as well as Code of Ethics 2. Working Relationship among QRT Members - Define the Flow of Referral: the requirements, the documents that need to be filled up, as well as institutional mandate and procedures - Coordination (standing agreement, handling emergency cases or related activities like resource mobilization)

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Protocol - Sample Referral System

Home

➜

➜

Institution

➜

➜ ➜

DOH

➜ MTCC

Prosecutor’s Office

➜

RTC

➜

CSWD

➜ ➜

PNP

➜

➜

➜

Client

Fiscal’s Office (Preliminary Hearing)

➜

Client Accompanied

by QRT Member in her Barangay

➜

QRT Member in her Barangay

Client

Source: CSSD, Bacolod City

3. Roles and Responsibilities of the Members - The Roles and Responsibilities of the QRT Members is an important part of the protocol.

- Once you have a permanent set of QRT members, you can designate a leader, whether on a permanent or rotation-basis, and decide on the responsibilities of each member to make a fully-functioning QRT. - Decide who does what, when and where on the assessment of tasks regarding identification, assessment, documentation, interventions, referral and follow-up. Each member can decide what role they ought to play in the team, given

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Sample Case Management Process that should be defined in your Protocol

Screening Intake

their mandated functions and resources. Members can play similar or very different roles, they can rotate, double or triple-team. These roles and responsibilities can also adjust and change over time, as the work progresses and the team matures.

4. Case Management Procedures

➜ Case Management Planning

➜ Case Management Implementation - Counseling - Medical aid - Legal aid - Temporary shelter

➜ Assessment And Termination

Source: Women's Crisis Center, Quezon City

- Define the quality of relationship between client and service provider, - Identify the strategies, approaches, methods, which may include indigenous community-based approaches - Ensure the sensitivity of service providers to the needs of clients Protocols are initially only working documents, subject to adjustments and change until they are tested.

They eventually can become official to ensure standardized practice across different QRT stakeholders.

Members of the QRT will need to sign a Memorandum of Agreement in support of the Protocol. This will lay down the QRT organization, its officers, its members, its system of hierarchy and accountability. This is very important as this will help keep members advised of their responsibility and obligations to the QRT. The team should refer to it periodically as the team does its work and when conflicts arise.

Once official, the protocols should be widely disseminated to all the members of the QRT. They should then be made easily accessible, in readable format and as much as is possible be visibly posted for members to see.

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List of Possible Roles and Responsibilities of QRT Members STAKEHOLDER

ROLE

RESPONSIBILITY

Mayor

Team Leader

◗ Regularly meet with the team to plan and discuss project activities, monitor and evaluate progress, assess current needs and use of resources ◗ Attend project activities when necessary

GAD Focal Point

Overall Coordinator Secretariat Documentor

◗ Coordinate all project activities ◗ Ensure participation of all members ◗ Document and keep documentation of the project in order ◗ Manage resources

CSWDO

Case Management Expert

◗ Take the lead in all cases of family violence referred handled by the team. ◗ Ensure adequate documentation ◗ Assist victims through the referral system (medical, police) ◗ Provide social welfare assistance on the immediate and short term. ◗ Collaborate with CHO/MHO, and other team members in developing a case treatment program to victim

PNP

Law Enforcement Expert

CHO/MHO

Medical Expert

◗ Conduct comprehensive and respectful medical examination of victim ◗ Ensure proper documentation of cases - medical report and history ◗ Provide immediate and short term medical treatment to victim ◗ Collaborate with CSWDO, and other team members in developing case treatment program to victim ◗ Provide RH counseling services

Prosecutor/Court

Legal Expert

◗ Ensure speedy filing of court cases if victim decides on prosecution ◗ Ensure respectful and sensitive treatment of victim through the legal process ◗ Collaborate with CSWDO, and other team members in developing case treatment program to victim

◗ Assist the victim through the police procedures – interviews, making of sworn statement, identifying perpetrator ◗ Ensure gender-sensitive and respectful treatment of victims through the process ◗ Ensure proper recording of cases ◗ Ensure speedy action on cases – issuance of warrants, arrest of suspects, arraignment

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STAKEHOLDER

ROLE

RESPONSIBILITY

NGO/Women's NGO

Advocacy Expert Capacity-Building Facilitator

◗ Collaborate with members of the team in developing a capacity building program for the team ◗ Conduct training needs assessment ◗ Help provide or source training needs of the QRT team ◗ Collaborate with team members in developing advocacy program ◗ Take the lead, along with CSWDO/MSWDO in implementing the advocacy program ◗ Provide available reference/advocacy materials to the team ◗ Collaborate with the team in developing RH counseling program ◗ Provide RH Counseling Services

Barangay Officials and Community Members (includes BHWs, day care workers, teachers, doctors, barangay tanods, others)

Community Point Persons Documentation and Case Identification Experts Community Advocates Crisis Workers

◗ Identify cases of family violence in the community ◗ Ensure adequate documentation of cases ◗ Provide immediate support and assistance to victims during actual incidents of family violence ◗ Provide RH counseling

In summary, protocols should; 1. Clearly state what responsibilities are shared; what responsibilities are agency or office-specific, while at the same time allowing for some flexibility.

2. Define an efficient referral system and the flow of services from the different agencies for VAW victims.

3. Clearly show where agencies and offices need to coordinate and work together to ensure the welfare of victims.

4. Consider available resources. Where no lawyers, judges, NGOs, medico-legal practitioners are available, it clearly states alternatives.

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stepseven Inform the Public Finally, the public should know about the existence of the QRT through continuous information and education campaign. This can be facilitated by a formal launching of the QRT. When publicly launching your QRT, you need to come up with an official name for your team to ensure easy recall and facilitate making an identity for your group. You do not need to call it a QRT. You can think of a more attractive and catchy name. Some of the names currently being used for QRTs are; ◗ Bantay Familia ◗ Bantay Abuso ◗ D2KA or District Two Laban sa Karahasan ◗ Bantay Panimalay ◗ Bantay Banay

It is often the case that LGUs have many good programs but communities do not access them simply because they are unaware of such services or lack information about such programs.

An awareness campaign program within the community on the QRT program will also be crucial to the QRT's successful operation and maintenance as it harnesses community support.

Where applicable, a tri media advocacy, in partnership with local media institutions should be pursued. In most other cases, alternative media advocacy may be adopted, such as the use of billboards, posters, etc, within the community.

By advocating to our media partners in Cebu, we are able to create a critical mass of gender sensitive media people who write and cover women issues. We have also responded to VAW cases affecting some media personalities in Bantay Banay on the importance of involving media.

Bantay Banay Experience Tessie Fernandez, Executive Director, Lihok Pilipina

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TIPS FOR MEDIA ADVOCACY: THE DAWN EXPERIENCE

By City Councilor Celia Flor, Bacolod City WHY MEDIA ADVOCACY? Advocacy with and through the media should be a main component of programs and strategies for gender mainstreaming. The media's influence in changing perspectives, forming public opinion and even moving people to action are reasons enough to make it an important strategy for GAD mainstreaming.

WHAT IS IT? Media advocacy is about giving information or advocating causes to the media and to the general or specific public. It is not just about producing press releases but it is building relationships with media institutions. It is about creating partners and making them your allies. It is about giving them accurate, relevant information, which they can report to the public, while enabling them to understand the issues that you advocate for. Such partnerships, to be meaningful, should however, be forged with responsible and credible media institutions, so that VAW issues do not get sensationalized but instead media contributes to the advocacy for gender sensitive and gender responsive governance.

DAWN's Experience of Partnering with media Dawn Foundation has tried to partner with media for its advocacy programs and now has a healthy relationship with them. One of its local media partners is the local ABS CBN. This partnership has been tapped to ensure a more sustainable, and effective response to the issue of domestic violence. On the other hand, ABS CBN sees it as a concrete vehicle for public service and a complementary program to their own "Bantay Bata" program. DAWN provides their media partners with the basic VAW-related trainings (gender sensitivity, VAW and a QRT orientation); while ABS-CBN creates and airs QRT plugs on VAW and VAW survivors.

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A SUMMARY So the seven steps to setting up a QRT include 1. Mobilizing stakeholders, creating your QRT 2. Obtaining a mandate and strengthen QRT support through local legislation 3. Mobilizing financial resources 4. Building capacities, train people 5. Assessing community needs and identify the services that your QRT will provide 6. Developing protocols 7. Informing the public An important thing to remember: your situation -your needs and resources should ultimately determine what type of QRT you should set up and what steps you need to take.

The seven-step guide outlined here is simply that, a guide. Based on your situation, you can alter the sequence of the steps or undertake them simultaneously. You can also innovate as the case may be.

Nonetheless, we recommend undertaking all the steps (whether in sequence or not), to ensure that your QRT has everything it needs to function well.

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What can we do to ensure that our initial efforts become sustainable, even beyond this administration?

partTWO Ensuring the Sustainability of your QRT

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some reminders on

ensuring your QRT’s sustainability This section puts together some reminders towards making your QRTs sustainable. Sustainability has to be a consideration from start-up. At the same time, ensuring QRT sustainability also means that your local government unit undertake other complementary gender-responsive projects. This section offers some concrete suggestions.

reminderONE

You can either start small or big when mobilizing stakeholders for the QRT. Whether you start small or big, the key is building awareness on VAW and getting people's support and commitment.

Option1 : Start SMALL ◗ Get a few close and supportive members, to serve as key people or catalysts to the QRT. By keeping the numbers small, the costs of training and capacity building remain manageable. ◗ Gradually, expand QRT membership by recruiting and training new members to the QRT. In the Sipalay and Escalante model, the original 5-6 barangay members per LGU were given the responsibility of forming their own QRTs in their separate barangays, re-echoing the training given and leading the barangay QRTs. ◗ Tap agencies that are mandated by law to provide services to women, since they already have the rel-

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evant knowledge and experience, which the QRT needs. These include: - CSWDO/MSWDO - CHO/MHO - POLICE - COMMUNITY (barangay officials, NGOs, POs) - because they should have a voice in formulating programs for the community, they have the information of what the problems and needs of the community, they have the experience in dealing with these needs and problems, and they have valuable inputs on what would best work for their communities.

Option2 : Start BIG ◗ Conduct a big, high-profile multisectoral consultation ◗ Invite the media and the city's who's who in terms

of social services. ◗ Get local groups to participate, including the Local

Medical Association, the local Lawyers Association, the Schools Association, the Rotary Clubs, the Women's NGOs, the line agencies and the entire LGU together. ◗ Open the consultation to the public, and start with

a parade or presentation by school students to get the public to come. Hold it in the town plaza or multi-purpose hall. ◗ Put up a streamer proclaiming that the LGU has

studied the serious costs of family violence and has declared a policy to eliminate this violence, and that it wants to get the whole town involved in the effort. Say that the entire LGU is backing this

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effort and wants everybody else to do the same.

Get commitments right there, in full view of the public. Get the next meeting decided upon and hold people to their commitments .

reminderTWO

Do not forget the people on the Ground. Work with the Community.

Whether you start big or small, what is important is getting people who actually deal with the community on a daily basis. This means the barangay health workers, the social workers, the police, the barangay captains, the barangay tanods.

Aside from these, you can also explore getting partners from existing community organizations - people's organizations, religious groups, rotary clubs, civic groups, women's groups and other NGOs. These people may have established reputations, regular members, available resources and experience that you can tap for the QRT.

reminderTHREE

Be Participatory Because the QRT will deal with very personal and sensitive issues, you need to make it a participatory effort, to ensure that it is informed by the actual experience and local knowledge of people. This will also ensure greater chances of its being successful and sustainable.

Ask questions. Ask the departments about their current limitations, how the QRT will add to their responsibilities, how they plan to deal with these issues, what resources can be utilized, what potential problems need to be planned for.

This will also allow QRT members to have a greater sense of ownership of the project, be more willing to

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share resources and devote time and effort to the QRT.

Be Able to Answer 3 Questions

reminderFOUR

You are ready to provide services when you are able to answer three critical questions: 1. How quick is quick?

2. How prepared are you?

3. Are existing mechanisms truly empowering?

By providing concrete answers to these questions, you provide a strong foundation for your QRT.

Identify and Prepare for Potential Problems

reminderFIVE

At the same time, there are also other problems and issues that you have to be ready to face as you take on the daily tasks of the QRT. Here, we draw from the experience of existing community-based initiatives against VAW, DV or Family Violence.

The sustainability of QRTs remains to be one of the most problematic concern of QRT implementers.

Around the country, many community-based initiatives against DV are now inactive or are grappling for life because of varied reasons, including: ◗ Political transition. Changes in local government

leadership contribute significantly to the lack of sustainability of such a project. Newly elected officials tend to ignore projects endorsed and supported by previous officials, especially if they belong to contending political parties. ◗ Turnover or re-assignment of inter-agency representatives, particularly the PNP representatives ◗ Lack of funds to sustain day-to-day operations ◗ Lack of political and community support because of low awareness and social consciousness

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“Have the community-based QRT evolve into a cooperative that can raise its own funds, implement its own income generating projects for sustainability”

Many things can be done to address some of the factors that contribute to the lack of sustainability of projects like the QRT. Here is a list of proposals from various stakeholders:

Doods Locsin, Board Member of DAWN Foundation

Continue retooling and providing capacity-building programs for members, especially new members by old members.

Set up Structural sustainability measures: ◗ Making CSWDO/MSWDO a full department, with significant resources so they can carry out the task (Mayor Barcelona, Sipalay) ◗ Creating a full section within CSWDO that can handle family, women and children issues (Mayor Barcelona, Sipalay) ◗ Making the QRT a program of the barangay or city with clear legislative mandate and budget (Tessie Fernandez, Lihok Pilipina)

Address Financial constraints ◗ Have the community-based QRT evolve into a cooperative that can raise its own funds, implement its own income generating projects for sustainability (Doods Locsin, Board Member of DAWN Foundation)

Expand the relevance of QRTs in the Community ◗ Do not limit QRT to addressing DV only, or to crisis intervention; expand its focus to other genderresponsive activities such as rehabilitation/recovery center for survivors cooperative-building or livelihood projects for survivors, training for survivors to empower them to eventually lead QRT. (Barangay Captain Brigid Tan/Dood Locsin/Councilor Celia Flor) ◗ Ensure that barangay-level QRT are able to provide follow-up activities to safeguard the well being of the family (Barangay Captain Brigid Tan/Dood Locsin/Councilor Celia Flor).

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Lobby for the Passage of the Anti-domestic Violence Bill that is now Pending in Congress

Conduct Regular QRT Planning, Implementing, Monitoring and Evaluation (PIME)

reminderSIX

The team should meet regularly to plan, monitor and evaluate the progress, as the members individually or jointly implement specific activities. These can be done by the team as a whole or committees can be created to do separate tasks.

Aside from meetings, other PIME mechanisms should also be included. These should include specific monitoring and evaluation mechanisms:

Monitoring The Monitoring Mechanisms can be divided into two: (1) monitoring the QRT responses and effectivity visĂ -vis QRT objectives and (2) monitoring incidence of VAW and family violence

Monitoring incidence Case documentation - to monitor incidence of family violence, you need to formulate formats for case documentation or intake sheets for agencies directly handling cases.

Data consolidation formats - you need to develop formats for consolidating the data of the different member-agencies, such as the PNP and the CSWDO/MSWDO. In the CAPIU model of Legazpi City, the unit developed a datasheet that is passed around at the end of every quarter to the different member-agencies to fill up, regarding cases handled. This eliminates the double-counting of cases and makes statistics on child abuse more accurate.

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Monitoring QRT progress

six

reminders on ensuring QRT sustainability 1. There are two ways of mobilizing stakeholders for the QRT. Whether you start small or big, the key is building awareness on VAW and getting people's support and commitment.

2. Do not forget the people on the Ground. Work with the Community.

3. Be Participatory 4. Be Able to Answer 3 Questions 5. Identify and Prepare for Potential Problems 6. Conduct Regular QRT Planning, Implementing, Monitoring and Evaluation

Make a Plan – a good way to monitor progress is to set specific, measurable targets - What specific activities to undertake - How many people will be reached - How many posters to print - How many meetings to hold; how much money to spend Then record the targets achieved given the timetable set. This way, you can always assess where the QRT is strong, and where it needs a greater push. There can be an overall plan as well as individual subplans for each of the members.

Minutes of Meetings – document every step of the way.

Rotate the task of documenting meetings among members to make it fair and participatory as well as help develop the capacity of members to undertake documentation. These minutes will serve as inputs in evaluating the project.

Documenting Services and Progress of cases – formats can be evolved to monitor the kind of services provided to the victims. It can include data on how many cases get to court, how many of the cases result in arrest of suspect, filing of cases, trial and conviction. It can also include how many victims are provided medical assistance, counseling and other services.

Resource management – evolve a system of reporting and accounting of the various resources provided by the member agencies. It can be a sort of counterparting report, where each member lists down their contributions, how many meetings were hosted, how much money spent on food and transportation.

This will make a more accurate accounting of the total resources being spent on the project and gives

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you a better handle when you're trying to decide how much money you need to allocate and ask the SP to approve the coming year.

Evaluation Depending on your requirements, evaluation can be done monthly, quarterly or annually. This can take the form of meetings, evaluation forms filled up by each member, or accounting of resources vis-Ă -vis number of clients served. The various documentation that you undertake during the course of the project implementation will then come in handy when you take stock of the year (or month or quarter) that was in terms of what the QRT has accomplished.

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beyond QRTs:

adopting complementary gender-responsive programs Now that you understand the importance of responding to women issues, what complementary gender-responsive programs can your administration support?

For your QRT efforts to be sustainable, your LGU has to implement other gender responsive programs.

Your administration can address other equally urgent concerns of women in your locality. You can take three tracts: 1. Continue to provide an enabling environment for effective QRT Response.

2. Adopt equally important gender responsive projects.

3. Work towards achieving critical GAD mainstreaming indicators.

tractONE

Provide an Enabling Environment for Effective QRT Response You can set up complementary programs that will support the quick response teams that you have established. Here are some suggestions: â—— Conduct a baseline study on VAW incidence and RH issues in the community.

Undertake a baseline survey that will provide a comprehensive picture of VAW incidence and RH issues in the community. This will provide a situ-

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ationer and a baseline for monitoring and evaluation. Since baseline surveys entail a substantial amount of funds (for interviewers and technical assistance in data processing), you should find local partners among local NGOs or academic institutions that can access funding for such an undertaking. â—— Make available the appropriate infrastructure for effective response on the medium and long-term including:

Provisions For A Drop-In Facility - Counseling room - Conference/interview room - Wellness room - Room for children - Hotline area - Receiving area - Business room Provisions For Temporary Shelter

- AN OFFICE. An office for the QRT secretariat and its activities. If you have the funds, you can have a center built for the QRT, that can serve as temporary shelter, office, counseling and rehab center and other QRT functions.

In case you do not have the room at the beginning, you can designate an area in the offices of the member-agencies.

- A DROP-IN FACILITY and/or TEMPORARY SHELTER. This is a facility where victims can go to for help, where people can go to when they have inquiries, and where counseling services can be housed. It can include a temporary shelter, a clinic or rehab center, a therapy room and resource center/library.

- Room for each family - Counseling room - Therapy room - Conference room - Kitchen - Laundry area - Garden - Play area/room - Recreational room - Mini-library - Toilets and bathroom Taken from Women's Crisis Center's Feminist Action Research on Violence Against Women, 1995-1998.

If you do not have the funds as yet to create such a facility, the existing facilities of the CSWDO, the CHO can be upgraded or rearranged to accommodate the needs of the QRT. Other QRT members can also be tapped to provide facilities -such as private or national government shelters and homes.

If you decide and have the funds to build one, consult an expert in the design of the facility. Care should be taken to ensure that the facility would cater to the needs of the victims for privacy, comfort, and healing.

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You can also look into using barangay halls as community-based drop-in facilities, designating a room or area in the building for the QRT. - ONE-STOP SHOP for managing cases of DV and child abuse; can put up one center or facility where interviews and processing of cases as well as different support systems by different concerned agencies (PNP, DSWD, CHO, etc) can be located and availed of by survivors with minimum of trauma and inconvenience.

- COMMUNICATION FACILITIES. Many of the models we featured have a hotline number where victims can call for help, sometimes 24 hours a day.

While this may not always be feasible or even necessary (if the area is rural, most people may not have telephones), it would be good to consider ensuring that the QRT can be easily accessed, either through phone or other means. Members also need to coordinate and communicate regularly with each other.

- TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. If you can afford it, allocate a vehicle to the QRT. This will be a valuable resource to the QRT, as it can get to victims quickly if the need arises, city/LGU-based members can have better mobility in going around the barangays to distribute RH materials, posters and other IEC materials, and meet with barangay and community members. â—— Provide the appropriate legislative support. For example, pass an anti DV or VAW ordinance in your LGU so that sanctions can be enforced; and so that the QRT is given some teeth. â—— Support non-government organizations in the area that are working on the issue.

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In Cebu City, the city government provided funds to Lihok Pilipina for Bantay Banay related activities in the barangays and the construction of the Bantay Banay building. A city government worker was also assigned to help out and process referrals from city hall.

This is also true in Bacolod. DAWN Foundation, the women's NGO advocating against VAW, holds office in the women's center of the city. Support can thus be financial, physical or even human. â—— Strengthen barangay structures like the BCPC to respond to such issues

Adopt Equally Important Gender-Responsive Governance Projects Your administration can implement other genderresponsive programs that will address other women issues. Let us look into some suggestions of local stakeholders of gender responsive programs that the LGU can implement in their respective areas:

tractTWO

three

tracts for a

gender-responsive LGU 1. Provide an enabling environment for effective QRT response 2. Adopt equally important gender-responsive governance projects 3. Work to achieve critical gender and development mainstreaming indicators

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Suggestions for Gender-Responsive Programs SP member Corazon Diploma, Negros Occidental

Implement economic empowerment programs that address women's most felt problem – poverty. This includes livelihood and skills training program that would allow women to earn an income for themselves and their families

Mayor Barcelona, Escalante

Implement a holistic poverty alleviation program that would address poverty as well as gender-equity problems in the city.

Mayor Barcelona believes that DV and gender inequity are rooted in poverty and social inequity; thus for him eradicating poverty would go a long way towards eliminating VAW

Atty. Jocelle Batapa, Human Rights Lawyer

Gina Castro, CSSD Social Worker

tractTHREE

◗ Set up a legal desk in the LGUs; Can be provincial-level so different municipalities can share on the cost of hiring pool of lawyers ◗ Provide Incentives for child-friendly communities ◗ Empower local DSWD office; provide sufficient funds and personnel so that it will not be at the mercy of local officials ◗ Set up other legally-mandated programs/bodies for gender responsiveness; such as the Committee on Decorum and Investigation (sexual harassment)

Appoint local GAD focal point person in barangay

Work to Achieve Critical Gender and Development Mainstreaming Indicators Finally, your local government must work towards achieving some critical gender responsive and GADmainstreaming indicators that will ensure sustainable gender-responsive governance: ◗ Use of sex-disaggregated data in planning, targeting, monitoring and evaluation of projects. By institutionalizing the use of sex-disaggregated data

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within your LGU, you have a more accurate picture of the plight of women as against men in your city or town; and thus your LGUs can design projects with specific targets for men and for women depending on their respective needs. ◗ Presence of a GAD plan with a GAD budget with its corresponding GAD council or GAD focal point. A GAD plan is a blueprint of how you could make your LGU and its policies gender responsive. The GAD budget is the sum total of all resources required to implement a GAD plan. Both are considered interim measures until such a time that it becomes second nature for LGUs to think GAD and ensure that women's concerns are mainstreamed in all their activities. The GAD council is the multi-sectoral structure that should be formed to mainstream GAD within the LGU. ◗ Increase in gender responsive local legislations. (e.g, anti-DV ordinance) ◗ Increase in the number of women-responsive projects like safe potable water, health centers that provide reproductive health and safe motherhood services, livelihood or savings mobilization projects for women's organizations, crisis centers for VAW or child abuse victims, day care centers. ◗ Increase in women's participation and representation in decision-making bodies in the LGU particularly the Local Councils, Local Special Bodies and other LGU non-mandated bodies.

“I think most LGUs still understand governance in terms of targets and quota. So when we speak of gender and development, you have to be specific. You have to talk about standards, indicators and quota.

For example, when we talk about health, what standards do we measure our performance on. You can say 100 immunized children, etc. If you are able to do this for gender and development, it becomes more doable for LGUs.” Mayor Joy Valdez, Bacolod City

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a finalnote Y

ou may feel that some of these options and suggestions may be too much for an LGU to take on, given its limited resources and the wide range of concerns it attends to. If you do think this, consider that other LGUs are actually able to undertake these efforts, and with success. There is a wealth of experience and support available, from which you can obtain technical assistance, resources, expertise, and lessons.

As a timeless axiom says, 'If there's a will, there's a way." There is a way. You only need the will to take it.

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Quezon City. ____. (1998). Handbook ng mga Legal Advocates. Tungo sa Pagsugpo ng Karahasan Laban sa Kababaihan sa komunidad . Women's Legal Bureau. Quezon City, Philippines. ____. (1999). Hudyat: Training Manual for COMBAT-VAW Community Seminars. Harnessing Self-Reliant Initiatives and Knowledge (HASIK). Quezon City, Philippines. ____. (undated). INTAKE FORM. Women's Desk. ____. (1999). Manwal ng Para-Legal : Karahasan Laban sa Kababaihan. Women's Unit, Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal. Quezon City, Philippines. ____. (undated). Manual Inputs Based on Gathered Literature. ____. (undated). Media Advocates for Reproductive Health and Empowerment. ____. (2001). Memorandum of Agreement between Pasiguenas Oranization for Women Empowerment and Recognition (POWER) Foundation, Inc and Kababaihan Laban sa Karahasan (KALAKASAN) Foundation. ____. (2001). Memorandum of Agreement between PENRO and CENRO GAD Chairpersons. ____. (undated). Menopause: Frequently Asked Questions. Women's Health and Development Program. Angat PINOY 2004. ____. (undated) Narrative Report. Barangay 3 Quick Response Team on Violence Against Women.

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Part Two ____. (2000). Directory of Women NGOS and other Development Agencies with Programs/Projects for Women. Metro Manila ____. (undated). Directory: Other Possible Key Informants on VAW, DV and RH. ____. (2002). Establishment of Community-based Quick Response Team on Family Violence and Reproductive Health in Sipalay City & Escalante City. Seminar-Workshop on Feminist Counseling. Development through Active Women Networking Foundation, Inc, Local Government Support Program of the Philippines-Canada Development Fund. Bacolod City. ____. (undated). Listahan ng Ilang Mga Organisasayon at Ahensyang Nagbibigay-Serbisyo sa mga Rape Survivors. Ang Batas Laban sa Panggagahasa. ____. (undated). Listing of Resources: Directory of Helping Institutions. Women's Crisis Center.

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