SEX AS FORM of initiation for membership in gangs? That is what the Iloilo City Police Office is trying to find out. This matter brings to mind a recent important development in Congress but failed to grab the public’s attention. A bill raising the age of sexual consent to 16 years old was approved by the House Committees on Revision of Laws and Welfare of Children.
Under our current Anti-Rape Law (approved in 1997), sexual intercourse is automatically considered as statutory rape if the victim is under 12 years old — the lowest in Southeast Asia. But while the law also criminalizes sex with minors under age 18, it only does so if consent is not present or if the act involves force, threat, or intimidation.
The Philippines is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. Our government is thus obliged to ensuring the welfare and upholding the rights of Filipino children in general, more so in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has placed the young in situations more vulnerable to abuse.
According to statistics, child sexual abuse, including child rape, has been rampant even without COVID-19. The 2016 National Baseline Study on Violence against Children revealed that one in five children aged 13-18 years old has experienced sexual violence. Of these, 32 percent reported that they were raped.
The vulnerability of children is further highlighted with the reported increase of incest rape cases during the imposition of extended community lockdowns. Also, children now are more engaged in using gadgets and freely surf online not knowing the danger the online world could cause them. According to Child Rights Network, with the widening availability of the internet, and with the community quarantine prompting children to spend more time online, sexual predators can find it easier to prey on children.
It is important that the lack of consent is presumed especially among minors. We must recognize that a 12-year-old child cannot in any way properly discern abuse and consequently cannot adequately defend herself or himself from such.
Apart from the actual physical bruises that might heal in time, abuse to children leaves them a more serious injury if not addressed properly. Child abuse and neglect can affect all domains of development – physical, psychological, emotional, behavioral, and social – all of which are interrelated.
The negative outcomes are staggering – learning and development problems, mental health problems, behavioral problems, alcohol and other drug use, physical health problems, homelessness, teenage pregnancy, aggression, violence, engagement to criminal activities, and the worst, youth suicide.
Let us protect children against violence, abuse and exploitation.
