A FILIPINA complainant has elevated a property and privacy dispute to a United Nations (UN) human rights body, alleging the Philippine government violated her rights through a Supreme Court ruling that “outed” her sexual orientation and applied a discriminatory legal framework to her assets.

In a copy of complaint filed May 8, before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the petitioner assailed the High Court’s Second Division for alleged non-consensual disclosure of her identity and sexual orientation in a published February 2025 decision.

The communication, filed under the CEDAW Optional Protocol, asserts that broadcasting her full name and home address triggers a “chilling effect” that may dissuade the LGBTQIA+ community from seeking judicial recourse.

“To meet its obligations under Article 16 of the Convention, the Philippines needs to reframe an entire legal framework and not simply retool a handful of provisions of the Family Code,” part of the communication read.

“A litigant who discloses sensitive personal information, including her sexual orientation, in pleadings to either seek judicial relief or defend herself in a suit does not thereby consent to the public dissemination of that information by the court itself,” it said.

“For every woman in a same-sex relationship in the Philippines, the decision is not a shield, but a novel risk,” it added.

The Office of the Solicitor General, through its secretariat, did not immediately reply to an e-mail requesting comment.

“It is expected that it will be the CEDAW committee, after initial vetting of the communication, that will formally transmit the CEDAW communication to the Philippine government for its response,” Frank Lloyd B. Tiongson, counsel for the complainant told BusinessWorld via e-mail. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR