Understanding TFGBV in the Philippines

Since 2012, the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) has documented 738 cases of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) in the Philippines through its ongoing mapping effort. These cases were sourced from media reports, online correspondences from individuals, and personal narratives shared by victim-survivors across diverse communities. The documentation reveals how gender-based violence is not merely mirrored in digital spaces but actively intensified through information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Despite growing public awareness of TFGBV, efforts to effectively address it remain hindered by limitations in existing legal definitions and frameworks. This is particularly acute for individuals facing intersecting vulnerabilities related to gender, class, geography, age, disability, culture, and educational attainment.

The Legal Landscape

The Philippines has no law that explicitly mentions or defines the term TFGBV. However, this absence of a dedicated law does not mean such acts go entirely unaddressed. The country maintains a robust yet fragmented legal framework covering many forms and consequences of technology-facilitated violence:

These laws provide mechanisms to protect victim-survivors and prosecute offenders for technology-related abuses such as online sexual harassment, non-consensual image sharing, doxing, and online stalking.

Critical Gaps

While existing legislation addresses behaviors falling under TFGBV, none recognizes it as a distinct or systemic issue. This legal gap limits the state’s ability to craft targeted interventions and respond to the evolving nature of gender-based violence in digital spaces. Additionally, legal remedies tend to prioritize punitive action over preventive and systemic approaches.

Research Approach

This report moves beyond a conventional policy review to present a grounded, experiential understanding of TFGBV across different communities of women in the Philippines. Rather than beginning with an inventory of laws and mechanisms, the research starts by describing what TFGBV looks like in the Philippine context—from the perspective of those who have experienced it.

The analysis encompasses not only the acts of violence themselves but also victims’ experiences seeking redress and justice afterward. The aim is not to produce an exhaustive definition of TFGBV, but rather to capture its lived reality based on the actual experiences of women and sexual minorities in the Philippines.