Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) Cases During Pandemic: Experiences of Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) Officers in Cebu City

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the life experiences of the Women and Children Desk (WCPD) handling Violence against Women and their Children (VAWC) cases during the pandemic in Cebu City. Specifically, sought to address the following specific problems: the experiences of the informants in handling VAWC cases during the Covid-19 pandemic, addressing the problems encountered by the informants, and aspirations of the informants to improve the quality of service to the victims of VAWC. The phenomenological and qualitative approach in this study was utilized through interviews as the key process in the gathering of data. There were ten (10) selected police officers handling Violence against Women and their Children (VAWC) during the Covid-19 pandemic in Cebu City. Five (5) of them were individually interviewed, while the other five (5) were included in the Focused Group Discussion (FGD). They were selected randomly but met the qualifications and have broad experience in the subject matter. The research locations are the top five (5) police stations in Cebu City with a high number of VAWC cases is Cebu City namely: Police Station (PS) 4- Mabolo; PS5- Carbon; PS7- Pardo; PS9- Guadalupe and PS10- Punta. A validated interview guide was aided by the voice recorder for the basis of transcribing the responses of the informants. Utilization of Colaizzi's method, a phenomenological analysis procedure, was used to analyze the responses of the informants during the interview. For the experiences of the informants in handling VAWC cases in Cebu City during a pandemic, themes created were Satisfaction with Desired Result, Attained Productivity, and Embracing Limitations of Official Functions in addressing the problems encountered in handling (VAWC) cases during pandemic, the following themes created were: Intensified Implementation of Restrictions, Established Online Presence, and Maintaining Effective Collaboration and for the aspirations of the informants to improve the quality of service to the victims of VAWC, the following theme were created: New Normal Retooling and Equipment for Stabilization. The Philippine National Police (PNP)- Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) officers, as a specialized unit in enforcing laws related to the protection of women and children and regarded as the “quick-response-unit,” must maintain dynamic and standardized public service. It is suggested that the Performance Standards and Assessment Tool for police service addressing cases of violence against women be amended where the assessment tool should not be done as “Self-administered” to identify committed officers who are working diligently to end violence against women and children. The retooling of PNP-WCPD should not only cover policy-related attitudes, habits, and work ethics but should also investigate an array of services that can be extended during a crisis. The provision of additional facilities and personnel to attend VAWC cases will expedite the acquisition of relevant documents for filing legal actions and will be timely in the recent health crisis. This will enable the Department of Health to provide prompt intervention on the outbreak of mental health problems aggravated by the pandemic. PNP-WCPD and other linkages should develop process-based alternatives and act on the research of shared resources from the Covid-19 experiences because health protocols altered policing strategies and are not conducive to problem-oriented crime prevention and innovation.