Important Features in

RA 9262
1. Violence against women and their children – refers to any act or a series of acts
committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a
woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with
whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate,
within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical,
sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such
acts, battery, assault, coercion, harrasment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. It
includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
 Physical Violence – refers to acts that include bodily or physical harm;
 Sexual violence – refers to an act which is sexual in nature, committed against a
woman or her child. It includes, but is not limited to:
 rape, sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, treating a woman or her child
as a sex object, making demeaning and sexually suggestive remarks, physically
attacking the sexual parts of the victim’s body, forcing her/him to watch
obscene publications and indecent shows or forcing the woman or her child to
do indecent acts and/or make films thereof, forcing the wife and mistress/lover
to live in the conjugal home or sleep together in the same room with the
abuser;
 acts causing or attempting to cause the victim to engage in any sexual activity
by force, threat of force, physical or other harm or threat of physical or other
harm or coercion;
 Prostituting the woman or child.
 Psychological violence –refers to acts or omissions causing or likely to cause
mental or emotional suffering of the victim such as but not limited to intimidation,
harassment, stalking, damage to property, public ridicule or humiliation, repeated
verbal abuse and mental infidelity. It includes causing or allowing the victim to
witness the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of a member of the family to
which the victim belongs, or to witness pornography in any form or to witness
abusive injury to pets or to unlawful or unwanted deprivation of the right to
custody and/or visitation of common children.
 
 Economic abuse – refers to acts that make or attempt to make a woman
financially dependent which includes, but is not limited to the following:
 withdrawal of financial support or preventing the victim from
engaging in any legitimate profession, occupation, business or
activity, except in cases wherein the other spouse/partner objects
on valid, serious and moral grounds as defined in Article 73 of the
Family Code;
 deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the
right to the use and enjoyment of the conjugal, community or
property owned in common;
 destroying household property;
 controlling the victims’ own money or properties or solely
controlling the conjugal money or properties.
2. Battery – refers to an act of inflicting physical harm upon the woman or her child resulting
to the physical and psychological or emotional distress.

3. Battered Woman Syndrome – refers to a scientifically defined pattern of psychological and

4. Stalking – refers to an intentional act committed by a person who, knowingly and without
lawful justification follows the woman or her child or places the woman or her child under
surveillance directly or indirectly or a combination thereof.

5. Dating relationship – refers to a situation wherein the parties live as husband and wife
without the benefit of marriage or are romantically involved over time and on a continuing
basis during the course of the relationship. A casual acquaintance or ordinary socialization
between two individuals in a business or social context is not a dating relationship.
5. Sexual relations – refers to a single sexual act which may or may not result in the
bearing of a common child.

6. Children – refers to those below eighteen (18) years of age or older but are incapable
of taking care of themselves as defined under Republic Act No. 7610. As used in this
Act, it includes the biological children of the victim and other children under her care.
SEC. 5. Acts of Violence Against Women and Their Children.- The crime of violence
against women and their children is committed through any of the following acts:
a. Causing physical harm to the woman or her child;
b. Threatening to cause the woman or her child physical harm;
c. Attempting to cause the woman or her child physical harm;
d. Placing the woman or her child in fear of imminent physical harm;
e. Attempting to compel or compelling the woman or her child to engage in conduct
which the woman or her child has the right to desist from or desist from conduct
which the woman or her child has the right to engage in, or attempting to restrict
or restricting the woman’s or her child’s freedom of movement or conduct by force
or threat of force, physical or other harm or threat of physical or other harm, or
intimidation directed against the woman or child. This shall include, but not
limited to, the following acts committed with the purpose or effect of controlling or
restricting the woman’s or her child’s movement or conduct:
 Threatening to deprive or actually depriving the woman or her child of custody
to her/his family;
 Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her children of financial
support legally due her or her family, or deliberately providing the woman’s
children insufficient financial support;
 Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her child of a legal right;
 Preventing the woman in engaging in any legitimate profession, occupation,
business or activity or controlling the victim’s own mon4ey or properties, or
solely controlling the conjugal or common money, or properties;
 
a. Inflicting or threatening to inflict physical harm on oneself for the purpose of
controlling her actions or decisions;
b. Causing or attempting to cause the woman or her child to engage in any sexual
activity which does not constitute rape, by force or threat of force, physical harm,
or through intimidation directed against the woman or her child or her/his
immediate family;
c. Engaging in purposeful, knowing, or reckless conduct, personally or through
another, that alarms or causes substantial emotional or psychological distress to
the woman or her child. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following
acts:
 Stalking or following the woman or her child in public or private places;
 Peering in the window or lingering outside the residence of the woman
or her child;
 Entering or remaining in the dwelling or on the property of the woman
or her child against her/his will;
 Destroying the property and personal belongingness or inflicting harm
to animals or pets of the woman or her child; and
 Engaging in any form of harassment or violence;
Sec. 26. Battered Woman Syndrome as a Defense. – Victim-survivors who are found
by the courts to be suffering from battered woman syndrome do not incur any criminal
and civil liability notwithstanding the absence of any of the elements for justifying
circumstances of self-defense under the Revised Penal Code.