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MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is hosting the second Association of Southeast Asian Nations training workshop on the rehabilitation of perpetrators of domestic violence.
The training started Monday where a holistic framework in rehabilitation programs will be among the focal points to be discussed.
"The focus of the training workshop is to address the gaps identified during the training in (October) 2003 which will ensure a holistic approach against domestic violence," Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said in a statement.
The four-day workshop, which ends on Thursday, is dubbed the "2nd Level ASEAN Training Workshop in Community-Based Strategies for the Rehabilitation of Perpetrators of Domestic Violence."
The attendees are some 20 representatives from 10 ASEAN countries -- Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Cabral said the training would address the needs of service providers on strategies and approaches for the rehabilitation of perpetrators of domestic violence.
The training workshop will also focus on global and regional mechanisms to eliminate violence against women, conceptual framework for community-based rehabilitation of perpetrators of domestic violence, country programs to prevent and respond to cases of domestic violence as well as the roles of the judiciary in the rehabilitation of perpetrators.
The DSWD's own program on violence against women has identified nearly a hundred perpetrators who need rehabilitation.
The DSWD said 18 completed the rehabilitation process, 27 have been undergoing therapy sessions, while 55 have been awaiting schedules for their therapy sessions, assessments or follow-up sessions.
Social Welfare Undersecretary Celia Yangco said a holistic approach to rehabilitation not only focused on the physical violence but also on the reasons that could ignite beatings by a spouse.
"We have to find the root causes of the problem. It's not only the beatings but why do the beatings happen? The problem could be psychological or with anger management. Part of the program is to focus on the interventions," Yangco told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone on Monday.
Yangco added that the DSWD has been offering programs "addressed to the men to make them effective husbands and fathers."
The DSWD established the Community-Based Rehabilitation Program for Perpetrators of Domestic Violence in 2005.
According to the DSWD, the program assists perpetrators on anger management, among other things. The program also engages not only the perpetrators but also the family and the community.
But Yangco said the DSWD would also address the problem of wives who beat their husbands.
"We really have to help them... some do express remorse," Yangco said.
Yangco said that more Filipino women have become empowered to report abuses because of the laws recently passed aimed at protecting women and children against domestic violence.
"It's no longer a taboo to report or fight against domestic violence," Yangco said.
