Battered Women

Through her reddish eyes, covered with popping lids, one could sense a nightlong fall of tears; through her arms decorated with uneven red-violet patches, one could sense cruelty from a superior strength; and through her haggard face, one could sense   misery she’s been into for the last segment of her life.
Faith has cursed life a couple of decade now. She calls it “inferno on earth”. Her Calvary started when she got married at the age of 22.
She, indeed, had powerless vocal chords in the family – no rights to freely avail and exercise. Her lips were sealed with silent agony and her hearts was turned between uprising and inexistence. All that she can do is to let tears flow – night and day – and ask for mercy and salvation, for her kids and for herself, until one day she bumped with an old friend and high school classmate, Promise.
The latter was a law student. He invited her for a coffee. At first, she was hesitant, but driven by a voice from nowhere, she agreed for a brief chat.
The caption of the book he was holding caught her attention: “Protect our Women and Children Act”. Promise is a sensitive guy. He handled the book to Faith as a gift when they parted.
WHAT IS R.A. 9262?
A product of almost a decade of advocacy of victim-survivors, human rights advocates, non-government organization (NGO’s) and other   government organizations led by the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, RA 9262, otherwise known as :Anti-Violence Against Women and Children” was enacted in 2004.
Studies by UNICEF in 2000 revealed that nearly fifty percent of women suffered from domestic violence, making it the most prevalent form of gender-based oppression. Philippines situation is not an exception to this. Cognizant of the alarming existence of such problem therefore, and in compliance with the obligations of the Philippine Government under the convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which was ratified in 1981   R.A. 9262 was...