How DSWD Regained Peace for Victims of Violence in this Island Community

(Left photo) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Municipal Link Gemma Gulanguyan led the conduct of capacity building activities with the community members and 4Ps women beneficiaries to raise awareness on gender and development, and pertinent laws on violence against women and children. Right photo shows the staff from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in a discussion with the Kasfallah Indigenous Peoples’ leaders.

Balut island in the Municipality of Saranggani in Davao Occidental is classified as Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Conflict-Affected Area or GIDCA.  As such, the area faces various challenges including the inaccessibility of most social services to the residents who belong to the B’laan and Sangil tribes.

Incidence of violence

Domestic violence has been reported  in Balut Island, with sexual abuse accounting for 16 of the 39 reported cases from 2017-2022 documented by the Philippine National Police (PNP) – Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD) Office of Sarangani.  This was followed by violence against women and children (VAWC).

For a hard-to-reach and indigenous community like Balut, the statistics is alarming, especially so that their culture dictates that they follow the IP socio-political mechanism system of settling disputes.

 

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Contact information:

DSWD – Digital Media Service
8931-8101 loc 10086