A research conducted in the provinces of Iloilo and Davao by the Filipino Men and Domestic Violence Project (MENDOV), a project conceived and realized in response to the questions “If men are often the sources of physical violence, why are they excluded from domestic violence program?”,  reveals that 8 of every 10 sources of household-based  violence are men. In fact, statistics from the Philippine National Police shows that more than one-third of the Violence Against Women (VAW) cases were inflicted by the husband of the victims. 

             Most sources of domestic violence come from all age groups. They come from all social classes, geographic regions, professions, race, and religion. They also come from diverse family and cultural backgrounds. Most of them refused to accept their responsibility and consequences in violent actions. Many of the sources are not violent to people outside of the household. They usually have low self-esteem and would usually justify their violent action by saying that they are just teaching the receiver a lesson. Furthermore, these men have learned to use violence as an acceptable form of behavior.

             Reasons why men induce violence upon women could be traced to the individuals development experience that shape his/her responses to ecosystem stressors such as witnessing marital violence as a child, being abused as a child, for having an absent or rejecting father, etc. Other factors contributing to male-led domestic violence could also be traced to the men’s family structure, such as man’s dominance in the family, male’s control of wealth, job’s stress, unemployment, delinquent peer associations that are likely to trigger violent behavior at home; and to the certain sets of cultural beliefs and values a person follows, such as entitlement and ownership of women, masculinity as link to aggression and dominance, rigid gender roles, acceptance of inter-spousal violence, and physical chastisement.

Domestic violence is classified into several dimensions. It is manifested in physical abuse, sexual abuse, economic abuse, social abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, and verbal abuse. It also follows a compulsive pattern. The cycle of domestic violence starts
with violent-outburst phase then gradually evolves into the remorse and pursuit phase and
finally subsides to the honeymoon phase.

             Based from the PNP data of 2000, recorded cases of VAW in Region 6 totaled to 854.  Of these, 38 percent were reported cases of wife battering and physical injuries, known to be a household-based type of violence.  Such cases were found to be highest in the province of Negros Occidental with a total of 162.

             In response to domestic violence, many activities and services have been established across the country.  These include the conduct of trainings and workshop on gender sensitivity, advocacy thru publication of information materials, setting-up of crises centers and shelters, telephone hotlines and women’s desk, and men’s program on domestic violence.