What happens if the abuser of the children is their mother? Will it fall within the ambit of VAWC?
The Supreme Court, in a vote of 10-5, ruled that VAWC law “covers a situation where the mother committed violent and abusive acts against her own child.” The High Court explained that “the statute used the gender-neutral word “person” as the offender which embraces any person of either sex. Logically, a mother who maltreated her child resulting in physical, sexual, or psychological violence defined and penalized under R.A. No.9262 is not absolved from criminal liability notwithstanding that the measure is intended to protect both women and their children.”
This ruling, therefore, allows the filing of suits under the VAWC law against abusive mothers. After all, the Supreme Court “finds no substantial distinction between fathers and mothers who abused their children that warrants a different treatment or exemption from the law. Any violence is reprehensible and harmful to the child’s dignity and development.”
Full text of the case may be accessed at: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/32923/
The Supreme Court, in a vote of 10-5, ruled that VAWC law “covers a situation where the mother committed violent and abusive acts against her own child.” The High Court explained that “the statute used the gender-neutral word “person” as the offender which embraces any person of either sex. Logically, a mother who maltreated her child resulting in physical, sexual, or psychological violence defined and penalized under R.A. No.9262 is not absolved from criminal liability notwithstanding that the measure is intended to protect both women and their children.”
This ruling, therefore, allows the filing of suits under the VAWC law against abusive mothers. After all, the Supreme Court “finds no substantial distinction between fathers and mothers who abused their children that warrants a different treatment or exemption from the law. Any violence is reprehensible and harmful to the child’s dignity and development.”
Full text of the case may be accessed at: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/32923/
