The House Committee on Women and Gender Equality chaired by Rep. Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba (1st District, Bukidnon) approved on Monday a substitute bill seeking to protect women and children from all forms of electronic violence.
The measure substituted House Bill No. (HB) 479 authored by Reps. Arlene Brosas (Party-list, GABRIELA), France Castro (Party-list, ACT-TEACHERS), Sarah Jane Elago (Party-list KABATAAN), and BAYAN MUNA Party-list Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat, HB 2266 by Rep. Lawrence Lemuel Fortun (1st District, Agusan del Norte), HB 3330 by Rep. Joy Myra Tambunting (2nd District, Parañaque City), and HB 5223 by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City).
The bill proposes amendments to Republic Act No. (RA) 9262, otherwise known as the “Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004” by including electronic violence against women and their children in the coverage of the law and providing penalties for such violations. Specifically, it seeks to amend Section 1 of RA 9262 so that the Act shall be known as the "Expanded Anti-Violence Against Women And Their Children (E-VAWC) Act”.
Brosas said the proposed inclusion of electronic violence is designed to protect women and children and penalize violators of the law who manipulate and take advantage of technology. Fortun added that countless women and children have become victims of perverse recording and photography, and the reproduction and distribution of such content are malicious or predatory.
Under the bill, the term “electronic violence or information communication technology (ICT)-related violence” refers to any act or omission involving the use or exploitation of data or any form of information and communications technology which causes or is likely to cause mental, emotional, or psychological distress or suffering to the woman and her children.
Also included is the unauthorized recording, reproduction, distribution, use, sharing or uploading of any photograph, video, or any other form of electronic and/or artistic presentation exhibiting any sexually-related verbal or non-verbal expression or gesture of the woman and her children which may be construed as lewd, indecent, or obscene.
Electronic violence is also committed with the unauthorized recording, reproduction, distribution, use, sharing or uploading of any photograph, video, or any other form of electronic and/or artistic presentation depicting any purported violent or errant behavior of the woman and her children, or the use of intoxicating or prohibited substances or drugs.
Rodriguez said that with the various advancements in technology, existing laws are not enough and there are still deficiencies and loopholes in the law. “RA 9262 does not take into consideration the existence of a new form of violence now known as electronic violence against women or EVAW,” he said.