MANILA – If a local government can pass an ordinance against sexual harassment in public, the national government most certainly can, too.
This was the message that Sen. Risa Hontiveros was sending out as she lauded the approval of Manila Ordinance No. 7857, which prohibits various forms of public sexual harassment.
Sponsored by District 4 Councilor Krystle Bacani, the measure that the Manila City Council passed on third and final reading penalizes catcalling, wolf-whistling, leering, and groping, among others.
Hontiveros was pushing for the approval of a similar measure in the Upper House – Senate Bill 1326, or the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act.
The chairwoman of the Senate committee on women called the Manila ordinance “historic and groundbreaking,” and “a big victory for women and safe spaces advocates.”
“An anti-catcalling ordinance in the country’s capital is a big boost to the campaign to protect its women from daily street harassment,” the senator said. “This will certainly serve as an inspiration as we push for the passage of a similar policy on the national level.”
The Senate bill, meanwhile, prohibits and penalizes gender-based harassment in public spaces, including catcalling, wolf-whistling, cursing, leering, groping, and persistent request for name and contact details.
Two women get harassed every day in the Philippine capital, Hontiveros said, citing data from the Manila Police District.
Forms of reported harassment include acts of lasciviousness, sexual harassment, rape, and violence against women, the report stated.
In 2016 Quezon City also passed an anti-catcalling ordinance, imposing a fine and jail term for acts considered sexual harassment of women in public spaces./PN
