Domestic violence and migration in the Philippines: Transnational sites of struggle and sacrifice

From actresses to migrant workers, stories of women from all socioeconomic groups, who courageously break their silence to speak up about domestic violence, show that despite the enactment in 2004 of Republic Act (RA) 9262 (the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act), domestic violence remains rampant in the Philippines. With the inability of the law to stem domestic violence and by extension, gender-based discrimination, women have looked outside the confi nes of the state and family for ways to escape abuse.