Understanding TFGBV in the Philippines

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 in its ongoing  mapping effort. These cases were  sourced from media reports, online correspondences from individuals, and personal narratives of victim-survivors across different communities, revealing how gender-based violence is not only mirrored but also intensified by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

While public awareness of TFGBV has steadily increased, efforts to effectively address it remain hindered by limitations in existing legal definitions and frameworks, particularly in cases involving individuals who face intersecting vulnerabilities related to  their gender, class, geography, age, disability, culture, and educational attainment.

The Philippines has no law that mentions or uses the term TFGBV. This absence of a dedicated law, however, does not mean that acts that comprise TFGBV are entirely unaddressed. On the contrary, the Philippines has a robust, albeit fragmented, legal framework that covers many of the forms and consequences of such violence. Laws such as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act (RA 9262), the Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313), the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175), and the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act (RA 9995) provide mechanisms to protect victims-survivors and prosecute offenders whose actions involve technology-related abuses such as online sexual harassment, non-consensual sharing of images, doxing, and online stalking, among others.

However, while these laws touch on behaviors that fall under the umbrella of TFGBV, they do so without naming it as a distinct or systemic issue. This legal gap limits the state’s ability to craft targeted interventions and recognize the evolving nature of gender-based violence in digital spaces. Furthermore, legal remedies often focus on punitive action rather than preventive and systemic approaches.

This research report presents a cursory understanding of TFGBV in different communities of women across the Philippines, as an attempt to contribute to policy discussions towards comprehensive and effective mechanisms addressing TFGBV. 

While this endeavor was initially designed as a simple policy review to serve as a baseline for policymakers, much wider and more systemic problems surfaced during the research and validation process. Hence, the report now takes on a more grounded experiential approach – instead of beginning with an inventory of laws and mechanisms for addressing TFGBV, the report takes a step back and starts by describing what TFGBV looks like in the Philippine context. 

What this paper aims to arrive at is not an exhaustive definition of what TFGBV is, but rather a picture of what TFBGV looks like in the specific context of the Philippines, based on the actual experiences of women and sexual minorities. This picture includes not just the acts of violence themselves, but the participants’ overall experience with finding redress and seeking justice after experiencing such violence.

Read the full report here: https://tinyurl.com/TFGBVinthePHFMA