Webinar #80 | “STAY SAFE, STAY HOME DAW: Domestic Violence and Abuse during COVID-19 Pandemic”
The University of the Philippines
in partnership with UP Manila NIH National Telehealth Center
and in cooperation with UP Philippine General Hospital
would like to invite you to join the Fight Against COVID-19!
Webinar #80 “STAY SAFE, STAY HOME DAW: Domestic Violence and Abuse during COVID-19 Pandemic”
November 26, 2021 (Friday) 12nn
Presenter:
Dr. Bernadette J. Madrid
Head, Child Protection Unit
UP Philippine General Hospital
Reactors:
Dr. Vanessa-Maria F. Torres-Ticzon
Training Officer, Division of Adolescent Medicine
Department of Pediatrics
UP Philippine General Hospital
Dr. Lyra Ruth Chua
Past President, Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS)
Head, Task Force on Gender-based Violence
Atty. Katrina Legarda
Director
Child Protection Network Foundation
Synthesis and Closing Remarks:
Dr. Stella Marie L. Jose
Deputy Director, Health Operations
Philippine General Hospital
———————————————————–
Webinar #80 “STAY SAFE, STAY HOME DAW: Domestic Violence and Abuse during COVID-19 Pandemic”
Special Topic
COVID-19 has affected people’s lives in so many unexpected ways. Beyond just being an infectious disease – as a new emerging infection with limited public health tools at the start of the pandemic — isolation and quarantine became the main instruments for controlling its spread. This meant asking people to stay home as much as possible and avoid interaction with other people.
Restriction of movement – regardless of whether this is in the upper, middle and lower strata of society – staying home and being unable to interact with others has brought widespread mental stress — anxiety, depression, irritability, frustration, anger. Women and children (both girls and boys) — have been easy targets for violence and abuse at home. So staying home may be safe against COVID-19 but not against abuse within the family.
It is widely believed that cases of domestic violence and abuse against women and children during the pandemic is under-reported as the statistics seem to have dropped. Global data shows an increase in domestic violence. The pandemic has brought with it a new epidemic of domestic violence that the health sector is unprepared for. Health professionals working in this field note that there are more new incidents of child abuse, but unfortunately services to support survivors are sporadic if not absent.
In this episode of STOP COVID DEATHS entitled: STAY SAFE, STAY HOME DAW: Domestic Violence and Abuse during the COVID-19 Pandemic, we will focus on how frontliner health workers can help address this growing and worrisome problem.
Dr. Bernadette Madrid – a multi-awarded pediatrician who started the Child Protection Unit at the Philippine General Hospital and is the thought leader in child abuse as a public health problem in the Philippines — will present data, contexts, challenges and long-term effects of child abuse against the backdrop of COVID-19. Dr Vanessa-Maria F. Torres-Ticzon, training officer of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at PGH, will discuss abuse and teen-age pregnancy among 10-14 year old girls. Dr. Lyra Ruth Chua, Past President of Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and Head of the Task Force on Gender-based Violence, will present the importance of a multidisciplinary team and how training is being conducted throughout the country through women and children’s protection units around the country. Atty. Katrina Legarda, renowned lawyer for women’s rights, will discuss the legal dimensions of this growing problem. Synthesis and Closing Remarks will be by Dr. Stella Marie L. Jose, Deputy Director for Health Operations at the PGH.
So please join us and spread the word about this very special webinar and learn from our experts, what approaches can be immediately deployed to help women and children who are not safe at home during the pandemic.
Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Stay Connected.
Together, we can STOP COVID DEATHS!
