Frequency and Factors of Non-Reporting of Violence against Women in Tabuk City

Abstract

Purpose: Violence against women is still a pervasive problem worldwide. In the City of Tabuk, Kalinga, Philippines, violence against women is undoubtedly existing. This study aimed to determine the existence of unreported violence against women (VAW) committed by intimate partners of women-residents in Tabuk City that are not reported. It also determined why these cases are not reported to proper authorities. Methods: The data were drawn thru informal interviews involving 356 randomly selected women-residents from the different urban barangays of Tabuk City, Kalinga. Women-residents included as respondents were in an intimate relationship during or before the study's conduct. Results: The data gathered showed that psychological violence is the most (64.89%) pervasive form of VAW experienced by respondents. The data also revealed that all forms of VAW exist in the study's locale to a varying frequency. This experience's non-reporting is primarily due to the victim's hope that the case will be settled in the family and need not be publicized. Her fear that her children will emotionally and physically suffer are also among the top factors why violence cases were not reported to the authority. Conclusion: Women in an intimate relationship experienced one or more modes of violence during or after their relationship duration. However, the frequency and reason for not reporting may vary from one victim-survivor to another. A need to empower victim-survivors that they may not hesitate to report violence committed against them by their intimate partners may be initiated. For this reason, an extension project with the banner program of "Protection of Women against Violence" was initiated and extended to the different barangays starting from two of the barangays where women respondents come. Keywords-Violence against women (VAW); victim-survivor; frequency of violence; intimate relationship, factors of non-reporting VAW; psychological violence.