Rodrigo Duterte signs Philippine law punishing catcalling, sexual harassment
- Law bans acts like persistent telling of sexual jokes, which women’s groups have accused president of committing in the past
- Senator Risa Hontiveros, main author of Safe Spaces Act, calls it a massive victory against growing ‘rude culture’ in streets and communities
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a bill into law penalising a range of acts of sexual harassment including catcalling, wolf-whistling and persistent telling of sexual jokes, which pro-women’s groups have accused him of committing.
Philippine officials released on Monday a copy of Republic Act 11313, known as the “Safe Spaces Act”, which Duterte signed in April. The reason for the delay in its public release was not immediately clear.
The bill’s main author, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, has called the law a “massive victory” against a growing culture of rude sexist actions.
“This is a big victory and a major push back against the growing ‘rude culture’ in our streets and communities,” Hontiveros said. “With this law, we will reclaim our streets from sexual harassers and gender bigots and make public spaces safe for all.”
The law defines a range of offensive acts, including catcalling, wolf-whistling, intrusive gazing, cussing, misogynistic acts, sexist slurs and persistent telling of sexual jokes in public, including in streets, workplaces, vehicles, schools, recreational areas, bars or online.
Other offences include stalking, exposing “private parts, groping or any advances, whether verbal or physical, that is unwanted and has threatened one’s sense of personal space and physical safety”.
Restaurants, bars, cinemas and other places of recreation are required to install clearly visible warning signs against would-be violators, including a hotline number to allow rapid reporting of offences, and to designate an officer to receive complaints or apprehend perpetrators.
“It is the policy of the state to value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full respect for human rights,” the law says.
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Punishments include fines and imprisonment depending on the gravity of the offence. Foreign violators would be deported after serving a jail term and paying fines.
Duterte, 74, a long-time mayor before winning the presidency in 2016, has been known for speeches laden with expletives and sexual jokes. Activists have repeatedly accused him of sexism and misogyny but supporters have defended him by saying he has introduced regulations to protect and uphold women’s rights.
The president is “the single most brazen violator of the law’s intent with his staple macho-fascist remarks”, women’s rights political party Gabriela said on Twitter. “Under this context, implementing the law will certainly be a challenge.”
Referring to Duterte as “the misogynist-in-chief”, journalist and campaigner Inday Espina-Varona said that while the law was “long overdue, his signing it only rams home the truth: he believes himself above the law”.
When he cracks jokes, it is intended to make people laugh, never to offend
One of Duterte’s most vocal critics, detained Senator Leila De Lima, said she hoped the president would not be exempt from compliance.
The president had repeatedly criticised De Lima over an affair, saying she was “not only screwing her driver, she is also screwing the nation,” referring to drug trafficking charges she said were politically motivated.
“If we count all his acts and comments disrespecting women since he came to power, the penalties under the law would be sorely lacking,” De Lima said in a statement.
Duterte spokesman Salvador Panelo said the president would comply with the law but rejected allegations of misogyny.
“When he cracks jokes, it is intended to make people laugh, never to offend,” Salvador Panelo told reporters. “You women should know that. Misogyny is different from making people laugh.”
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Last year, Duterte came under fire for publicly ordering troops to shoot female communist guerillas in the vagina to render them “useless”. A left-wing human rights group, Karapatan, reacted by saying that Duterte had distinguished himself “as a frothing-in-the-mouth fascist who incites the worst violations of international humanitarian law”.
“President Duterte acted like a feudal king who thinks that being the president is an entitlement to do anything that he pleases,” Hontiveros said then.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
