GENDER OMBUD REPORT 2016 SPECIAL CONCERNS FROM THE CHR NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS Apart from areas of concern identified in the Magna Carta of Women, the Gender Ombud Report also takes note of cross-cutting and emerging issues raised in the national and regional consultations on gender-based discrimination and women’s access to justice. Below are some of the CHR’s recommendations to address these. LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS The Special Rapporteur on VAW (SRVAW) has cited, how being identified as a person living with HIV increases the experience of stigma and results in desertion and impoverishment within the family and the community. These are due to factors such as social ostracism, withdrawal of family or community care, disinheritance, and in many cases, violence. Moreover, HIV/AIDS further impedes women’s access to health care and justice.33 The CHR thus recommends that the State subscribed to General Recommendation (GR) 19 in addressing and countering stigma, primarily towards enhancing measures to combat the discrimination and violence that HIV-positive women experience.34 ICT AND VIOLENCE Violence committed through the information and communication technologies (ICT) or digital channels should also be given attention. Part of the continuum of GBV is perpetuated through digital spaces. This intersect with cases of prostitution, trafficking, sexual harassment, and violence in intimate relationships. While it is often difficult to resolve due to the perpetrator anonymity (thus, heightening impunity), mechanisms for redress, 33 34 30 which include being able to track the perpetrators, is recommended to be put in place. At the same time, it is recognized that technology and ICT are tools that can empower women and girls to prevent and combat GBV, and change sexist attitudes and stereotypes. Its use towards these ends should encouraged and enhanced. MISOGYNY AND THE PROLIFERATION OF ‘HATE SPEECH’ TARGETING WOMEN. The State has been negligent of the links among violence against women, misogyny the perpetuation of rape culture, and freedom of expression. During the CHR consultation, hate speech against women has been raised as a concern as it contributes to the extreme forms of GBV. VIOLENCE CONNECTED TO WIDER STRUGGLES AGAINST DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS Violence for vulnerable groups of women is both personal and collective. In the Philippines, IP and Moro women struggle against GBV in the family and in the community as they likewise struggle collectively as a group for self-determination. ECONOMIC VIOLENCE Connections have been made between macroeconomics and violence against women. Consultations of the CHR surfaced issues of economic violence in the family, including abandoned families given the larger issue of poverty. Also, GBV has been discussed in relation to rural and indigenous women, particularly those committed in the context of development aggression. 15 years of the UN SRVAW, Its Causes and Consequences, P. 12 http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/15YearReviewofVAWMandate.pdf Ibid.