Section 1. Short Title. -This Act shall be known as the “Safe Spaces Act”.
Section 2. Declaration of Policies. -It is the policy of the State to value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full respect for human rights. It is likewise the policy of the State to recognize the role of women in nation-building and ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men. The State also recognizes that both men and women must have equality, security and safety not only in private, but also on the streets, public spaces, online, workplaces and educational and training institutions.
Section 3. Definition of Terms. -As used in this Act:
(a) Catcalling refers to unwanted remarks directed towards a person, commonly done in the form of wolf-whistling and misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and sexist slurs;
(b) Employee refers to a person, who in exchange for remuneration, agrees to perform specified services for another person, whether natural or juridical, and whether private or public, who exercises fundamental control over the work, regardless of the term or duration of agreement: Provided, That for the purposes of this law, a person who is detailed to an entity under a subcontracting or secondment agreement shall be considered an employee;
(c) Employer refers to a person who exercises control over an employee: Provided, That for the purpose of this Act, the status or conditions of the latter’s employment or engagement shall be disregarded;
(d) Gender refers to a set of socially ascribed characteristics, norms, roles, attitudes, values and expectations identifying the social behavior of men and women, and the relations between them;
(e) Gender-based online sexual harassment refers to an online conduct targeted at a particular person that causes or likely to cause another mental, emotional or psychological distress, and fear of personal safety, sexual harassment acts including unwanted sexual remarks and comments, threats, uploading or sharing of one’s photos without consent, video and audio recordings, cyberstalking and online identity theft;
(f) Gender identity and/or expression refers to the personal sense of identity as characterized, among others, by manner of clothing, inclinations, and behavior in relation to masculine or feminine conventions. A person may have a male or female identity with physiological characteristics of the opposite sex in which case this person is considered transgender:
(g) Public spaces refer to streets and alleys, public parks, schools, buildings, malls, bars, restaurants, transportation terminals, public markets, spaces used as evacuation centers, government offices, public utility vehicles as well as private vehicles covered by app-based transport network services and other recreational spaces such as, but not limited to, cinema halls, theaters and spas; and
(h) Stalking refers to conduct directed at a person involving the repeated visual or physical proximity, non-consensual communication, or a combination thereof that cause or will likely cause a person to fear for one’s own safety or the safety of others, or to suffer emotional distress.
Section 4. Gender-Based Streets and Public Spaces Sexual Harassment. -The crimes of gender-based streets and public spaces sexual harassment are committed through any unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks against any person regardless of the motive for committing such action or remarks. Gender-based streets and public spaces sexual harassment includes catcalling, wolf-whistling, unwanted invitations, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic and sexist slurs, persistent uninvited comments or gestures on a person’s appearance, relentless requests for personal details, statement of sexual comments and suggestions, public masturbation or flashing of 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, and committed in public spaces such as alleys, roads, sidewalks and parks. Acts constitutive of gender-based streets and public spaces sexual harassment are those performed in buildings, schools, churches, restaurants, malls, public washrooms, bars, internet shops, public markets, transportation terminals or public utility vehicles. xxx
Section 11. Specific Acts and Penalties for Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in Streets and Public Spaces. -The following acts are unlawful and shall be penalized as follows:
(a) For acts such as cursing, wolf-whistling, catcalling, leering and intrusive gazing, taunting, pursing, unwanted invitations, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and sexist slurs, persistent unwanted comments on one’s appearance, relentless requests for one’s personal details such as name, contact and social media details or destination, the use of words, gestures or actions that ridicule on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation, identity and/or expression including sexist, homophobic, and transphobic statements and slurs, the persistent telling of sexual jokes, use of sexual names, comments and demands, and any statement that has made an invasion on a person’s personal space or threatens the person’s sense of personal safety –
(1) The first offense shall be punished by a fine of One thousand pesos (P1,000.00) and community service of twelve (12) hours inclusive of attendance to a Gender Sensitivity Seminar to be conducted by the PNP in coordination with the LGU and the PCW;
(2) The second offense shall be punished by arresto menor (6 to 10 days) or a fine of Three thousand pesos (P3,000.00);
(3) The third offense shall be punished by arresto menor (11 to 30 days) and a fine of Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00).
(b) For acts such as making offensive body gestures at someone, and exposing private parts for the sexual gratification of the perpetrator with the effect of demeaning, harassing, threatening or intimidating the offended party including flashing of private parts, public masturbation, groping, and similar lewd sexual actions –
(1) The first offense shall he punished by a fine of Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) and community service of twelve (12) hours inclusive of attendance to a Gender Sensitivity Seminar, to be conducted by the PNP in coordination with the LGU and the PCW;
(2) The second offense shall be punished by arresto menor (11 to 30 days) or a fine of Fifteen thousand pesos (P15,000.00);
(3) The third offense shall be punished by arresto mayor (1 month and 1 day to 6 months) and a fine of Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00).
(c) For acts such as stalking, and any of the acts mentioned in Section 11 paragraphs (a) and (b), when accompanied by touching, pinching or brushing against the body of the offended person; or any touching, pinching, or brushing against the genitalia, face, arms, anus, groin, breasts, inner thighs, face, buttocks or any part of the victim’s body even when not accompanied by acts mentioned in Section 11 paragraphs (a) and (b) –
(1) The first offense shall be punished by arresto rnenor (11 to 30 days) or a line of Thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00), provided that it includes attendance in a Gender Sensitivity Seminar, to be conducted by the PNP in coordination with the LGU and the PCW;
(2) The second offense shall be punished by arresto mayor (1 month and 1 day to 6 months) or a fine of Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00);
(3) The third offense shall be punished by arresto mayor in its maximum period or a fine of One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00).
Section 12. Gender-Based Online Sexual Harassment. -Gender-based online sexual harassment includes acts that use information and communications technology in terrorizing and intimidating victims through physical, psychological, and emotional threats, unwanted sexual misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic and sexist remarks and comments online whether publicly or through direct and private messages, invasion of victim’s privacy through cyberstalking and incessant messaging, uploading and sharing without the consent of the victim, any form of media that contains photos, voice, or video with sexual content, any unauthorized recording and sharing of any of the victim’s photos, videos, or any information online, impersonating identities of victims online or posting lies about victims to harm their reputation, or filing, false abuse reports to online platforms to silence victims.
Section 14. Penalties for Gender-Based Online Sexual Harassment. -The penalty of prision correccional in its medium period or a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) but not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court shall be imposed upon any person found guilty of any gender-based online sexual harassment.
Section 15. Qualified Gender-Based Streets, Public Spaces and Online Sexual Harassment. -The penalty next higher in degree will be applied in the following cases:
(a) If the act takes place in a common carrier or PUV, including, but not limited to, jeepneys, taxis, tricycles, or app-based transport network vehicle services, where the perpetrator is the driver of the vehicle and the offended party is a passenger;
(b) If the offended party is a minor, a senior citizen, or a person with disability (PWD), or a breastfeeding mother nursing her child;
(c) If the offended party is diagnosed with a mental problem tending to impair consent;
(d) If the perpetrator is a member of the uniformed services, such as the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the act was perpetrated while the perpetrator was in uniform; and
(e) If the act takes place in the premises of a government agency offering frontline services to the public and the perpetrator is a government employee.
Section 16. Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. -The crime of gender-based sexual harassment in the workplace includes the following:
(a) An act or series of acts involving any unwelcome sexual advances, requests or demand for sexual favors or any act of sexual nature, whether done verbally, physically or through the use of technology such as text messaging or electronic mail or through any other forms of information and communication systems, that has or could have a detrimental effect on the conditions of an individual’s employment or education, job performance or opportunities;
(b) A conduct of sexual nature and other conduct-based on sex affecting the dignity of a person, which is unwelcome, unreasonable, and offensive to the recipient, whether done verbally, physically or through the use of technology such as text messaging or electronic mail or through any other forms of information and communication systems;
(c) A conduct that is unwelcome and pervasive and creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating environment for the recipient: Provided, That the crime of gender-based sexual harassment may also be committed between peers and those committed to a superior officer by a subordinate, or to a teacher by a student, or to a trainer by a trainee; and
(d) Information and communication system refers to a system for generating, sending, receiving, storing or otherwise processing electronic data messages or electronic documents and includes the computer system or other similar devices by or in which data are recorded or stored and any procedure related to the recording or storage of electronic data messages or electronic documents.
Section 21. Gender-Based Sexual Harassment in Educational and Training Institutions. — All schools, whether public or private, shall designate an officer-in-charge to receive complaints regarding violations of this Act, and shall, ensure that the victims are provided with a gender-sensitive environment that is both respectful to the victims’ needs and conducive to truth-telling.
Every school must adopt and publish grievance procedures to facilitate the filing of complaints by students and faculty members. Even if an individual does not want to file a complaint or does not request that the school take any action on behalf of a student or faculty member and school authorities have
knowledge or reasonably know about a possible or impending act of gender-based sexual harassment or sexual violence, the school should promptly investigate to determine the veracity of such information or knowledge and the circumstances under which the act of gender-based sexual harassment or sexual violence were committed, and take appropriate steps to resolve the situation. If a school knows or reasonably should know about acts of gender-based sexual harassment or sexual violence being committed that creates a hostile environment, the school must take immediate action to eliminate the same acts, prevent their recurrence, and address their effects.
Once a perpetrator is found guilty, the educational institution may reserve the right to strip the diploma from the perpetrator or issue an expulsion order.
The Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI) of all educational institutions shall address genderbased sexual harassment and online sexual harassment in accordance with the rules and procedures contained in their CODI manual.
Section 24. Liability of Students. — Minor students who are found to have committed acts of genderbased sexual harassment shall only be held liable for administrative sanctions by the school as stated in their school handbook.