MONITORING COMPLIANCE TO THE MAGNA CARTA OF WOMEN
programs on gender, resulting to the failure
to address them. The LGBTIs also report
experiencing discrimination from service
providers when they file complaints of abuse.
• The lack of livelihood and employment
opportunities for LGBTIs (as they are often
excluded from livelihood programs) has
pushed some of them to engage in prostitution.
• Their is a lack of legal mechanisms to protect
joint properties of LGBTI couples.
• There is lack of information and awareness on
HIV/AIDS.
YOUNG WOMEN AND TEENAGE
MOTHERS
The following issues of young women and
teenage mothers were discussed in six regional
FGDs:
• Young women and teenagers have unplanned
pregnancies because of lack of access
to information and guidance. Fertility
management, adolescent reproductive health,
and family planning are not openly discussed
in schools or in their homes.
• There is lack of support services for teenage
mothers to enable them to continue their
studies while taking care of their child.
• Young women who drop out of school are
at risk of falling into drug addiction and
prostitution.
• Children are deterred from expressing their
sexual orientation or gender iddentities at
home or in shcool.
• There is a need for youth sector representation
23
in development or government planning
councils so that their voices and opinions are
heard in formal decision-makng processes
affecting their welfare.
WOMEN AFFECTED BY
DISASTERS, CALAMITIES, AND
OTHER CRISIS SITUATIONS
(SEC. 10)
One of the provisions of the Magna Carta of
Women monitored by the Commission through its
Regional Offices is on women affected by disasters,
calamities, and crisis. During the consultation on
CEDAW, MCW, and RPRH, one of the questions
pertained to issues relating to displacement and
development aggression, and how these affect
women’s access to justice in cases of violence and
access to services, including reproductive health.
Studies show that women’s vulnerability to genderbased discrimination and violence are heightened in
times of disasters and displacement. This was clearly
seen in major events like the Typhoons Yolanda
(2013) and Pablo (2012) and the Zamboanga Siege
(2013), as well in conflict areas where women and
their families live under consant threat of armed
violence.
Based on the consultation reports, the specific
issues of women in times of crisis, disasters, and
calamities include:
1. PROTECTION AND SECURITY: Women are
are usually burdened with the sole responsibility
of taking care of their families, and securing
their welfare especially when there are no proper
evacuation centers.
2. INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: Evacuation
centers where there are no separate spaces for
women and girls are unsafe. Access to safe toilets