Social workers heading the DSWD’s Home for Girls and the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) bared in a recent interview that child sexual abuse still ranks among the highest or is a common case among residents of their respective facilities.
The two Center Heads reported this, in the light of the recent observance of the 17th National Awareness Week for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, celebrated February 9 to 17.
Alicia Bolante, Officer-In-Charge of the Home for Girls, said that as of to date, there are 43 cases. Of said number, 22 are victims of rape and 13 are incest cases. The rest are cases of trafficking – 6; neglect – 1; and a child witness – 1.
The said center serves as a halfway home for children, aged eight to seventeen years old, who are abused, neglected, exploited, orphaned, surrendered and abandoned. These minors, she revealed, are provided protective services in a homelife atmosphere while at the Center, and are being prepared for their eventual return to their families and communities, or for a new life in another environment where they are safe.
On the other hand, Nida Jusay, the Officer-In-Charge of the RSCC reported that as of to date, there is only one child sexual abuse case from among the 35 minors staying at the Center. She, however, added that there are certain periods that cases of such kind are high, and that, what is alarming is that even three to five-year-old children are victimized by their own father, grandfather, uncle, stepfather, or neighbor.
As of this period, the surrendered cases rank as the highest, reaching to 17; neglected – 10; foundling – 7; abandoned – 2; and sexual abuse – 1.
The RSCC caters to children who are aged seven years old and below, are surrendered, abused, exploited, orphaned, and neglected. Jusay said these minors are readied for foster care or adoption, as the family is still the best place for a child, and not an institution.
Meanwhile, DSWD Field Office Region Eight Director, Remia Tapispisan, calls on the Local Councils for the Protection of Children, down to the barangay level, to be vigilant of the children in their communities, especially that child trafficking is becoming a social phenomenon in the country.