The Provincial Commission on Women in Dumaguete City is urging the newly-elected barangay captains in Negros Oriental to put up a Violence Against Women Desk in their barangays as mandated by the Magna Carta for Women, a Philippine Information Agency press release said.

The guidelines for the VAW Desks were issued in December last year, but they are not operating yet since the guidelines were issued just last December, but they hope the barangay officials will respond to it immediately, Judith Alpuerto of PCW said.

The Magna Carta for Women mandates that each barangay should set up a VAW desk that will handle violence against women cases in the barangays. It will assist women who are victims of violence in the barangays on what they need to do to report their case to the authorities, Alpuerto said.

Phoebe Tan, who heads the PCW and the Silliman University's Center for Women Studies, said the commission plans to conduct gender-senstivity trainings for barangay officials and designated persons who will man the VAW desks, the press release said.

The VAW Desk is expected to boost the campaign of the province for heightened awareness of women's rights as spelled out in the Magna Carta for Women; local officials admit that majority of the women, and men, in the province still cling to traditional views about gender issues.*

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