Existing legislation does not penalize gender-based street and public spaces harassment. The Revised Penal Code on unjust vexation does not cover with exactitude gender-based, misogynistic and homophobic public spaces harassment, while the present law on sexual harassment (Republic Act 7877) only covers harassment between a superior and subordinate.
To address this gap in the law, both the Senate and the House of Representatives has enacted Senate Bill (SB) 1558 and House Bill (HB) 8794, respectively known as the “Safe Streets, Workplaces and Public Spaces Act.” A bicameral conference committee reconciled both bills that seek to impose heavier penalties for any unwarranted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks against any person in public spaces or online, which constitute invasion of a person’s personal space and physical safety. With the Senate approving the reconciled version on February 7 and once the House of Representatives ratifies the proposed reconciled version, it will be sent to Malacañang for the President’s signatur—hopefully before the start of the campaign period.
“Public spaces” refer to streets and alleys, public parks, schools, buildings, malls, bars, restaurants, transportation terminals, public markets, public-utility vehicles, as well as private vehicles covered by app-based transport network services and other recreational spaces, such as cinema halls, theaters and spas.
HB 8794 sets different penalties for specific violations:
(1) For acts like cursing, wolf-whistling, catcalling, leering and intrusive gazing, taunting, cursing, unwanted invitations, misogynistic and sexist slurs, persistent unwanted comments on one’s appearance, relentless requests for one’s personal details, the use of words, gestures, or actions that ridicule on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation, identity, and expression, the persistent telling of sexual jokes, use of sexual names, comments, and demands, and any statement that has made an invasion on a person’s personal space or threatens the person’s sense of personal safety:
1st offense: P10,000 fine or 12-hour community service, with mandatory attendance in a gender sensitivity seminar
2nd offense: one day to 10 days in prison or P20,000 fine
3rd offense: 11 to 20 days in prison or P30,000 fine
(2) For acts like making offensive body gestures at someone and exposing private parts:
1st offense: P30,000 fine and 12-hour community service with mandatory attendance in a gender sensitivity seminar
2nd offense: 11 to 20 days in prison or P40,000 fine
3rd offense: four to six months in prison or P50,000 fine
(3) For acts like stalking, as well as offensive body gestures and exposure of private parts accompanied by touching, pinching, or brushing against the body of the offended person, or touching, pinching or brushing against the genitalia, face, arms, anus, groin, breasts, inner thighs, face, buttocks or any part of the victim’s body:
1st offense: 11 to 20 days in prison or P100,000 fine, and mandatory attendance in a gender sensitivity seminar
2nd offense: two to four months in prison or P150,000 fine
3rd offense: four to six months in prison or P200,000 fine
(4) For gender-based online sexual harassment: two to four years and two months in prison, or P100,000 to P500,000 fine.
Under SB 1558, the penalties for the above acts are lower and range from P1,000 to P10,000 and imprisonment from six days to six months depending on whether light, medium and severe violation. The Bicameral version is expected to reconcile the difference in penalties.
HB 8794 mandates the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for Metro Manila, the local units of the Philippine National Police for other provinces, and the Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD) of the PNP to apprehend harassers and enforce the law provided that they have undergone prior Gender Sensitivity Training (GST). The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall be national bodies responsible for oversight of the law and to formulate policies as needed for strict implementation.
The MMDA for Metro Manila and the local units of the PNP for other provinces are mandated to deputize enforcers to be Anti-Sexual Harassment Enforcers (A-SHE) for gender-based street and public spaces sexual harassment. They will be deputized to receive complaints on the street and immediately apprehend the harasser if the same was caught in flagrante delicto. The harasser will be immediately brought to the nearest PNP station to face charges of the offense he/she committed. The A-SHE unit together with the Women’s and Children’s Desk of PNP stations will keep a ledger of harassers for this Act for purposes of determining if the harasser is a first, second or third offender. The DILG shall also ensure that all local government bodies have Anti-Sexual Harassment Desks in all barangay and city halls, and to ensure set-up of CCTVs in major roads, alleys and sidewalks in their respective regions to aid in the filing of cases and gathering of evidence. The DILG, the DSWD in coordination with the Department of Health and the PCW shall coordinate if necessary to ensure that victims are provided the proper psychological counseling support services.
The PNP Anti-Cyber Crime Group (PNP-ACG) is mandated as the National Operational Unit of the PNP primarily responsible for the implementation of pertinent Philippine laws on cyber crimes to receive complaints of online sexual harassment and develop an online mechanism for reporting real-time online sexual harassment acts and apprehend harassers. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) of the DICT shall also coordinate with the PNP-ACG to prepare appropriate and effective measures to monitor and penalize online sexual harassment cases.
Privately owned places open to the public, such as restaurants and cafés, bars and clubs, resorts and water parks, hotels and casinos, cinemas, malls, buildings and the like are required to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against harassment. These establishments are obliged to provide assistance to victims of harassment by coordinating with local police authorities immediately after harassment is reported, making CCTV footage available when ordered by the Court and providing a safe gender-sensitive environment to encourage victims to report harassment at the first instance.
All restaurants, bars, cinemas and other places of recreation are, likewise, required to install in their business establishments clearly visible warning signs against public spaces harassment, including the anti-harassment hotline number in bold letters, and shall designate at least one anti-sexual harassment officer to receive gender-based harassment complaints. Security guards in these places may be deputized to apprehend harassers caught in flagrante delicto and are required to immediately coordinate with local authorities.
Educational institutions must designate an officer in charge for receiving complaints regarding violations and shall ensure that the victims are provided with a gender-sensitive environment that is both respectful of victims’ needs and conducive to truth-telling. Schools are required to adopt and publish grievance procedures to facilitate the filing of complaints by students and faculty members.
Under SB 1558, the definition of ‘”sexual harassment” under Section 3 of RA 7877 has been expanded to include acts “between peers and those committed to a superior officer by a subordinate, or to a teacher by a student, or to a trainer by a trainee.” The existing law covers sexual harassment in the workplace only between a superior and subordinate.
A 2016 SWS survey reports that an overwhelming 88 percent of women aged 18 to 24 years old experienced sexual harassment in the streets. Other incidents have been reported to happen in public vehicles, public washrooms, schools and workplaces not only to women but to LGBTs.
The creation of “Safe Spaces” for women and LGBTs is long overdue.
Is it misplaced optimism to think that our President shares the same sentiment and will sign the bill into law?
Don’t hold your breath!