By Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA CITY – More
than a thousand children in the country are victims of child abuse, and most of
them were victimized online in 2014 alone.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s
(DSWD) child abuse preliminary report as of January, this year, 1,319 children
were abused sexually. For the last three years, sexual abuse and exploitation
has ranked second in reference to child abuse cases in the Philippines.
Last year, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima has shared the grim
statistics, that online child sexual abuse is by far the “biggest source of
cybercrime in the Philippines”, accounting for 46 percent of cybercrime cases
being handled by the authorities.
The government, in partnership with private entities and civil
society groups has been intensifying advocacy efforts to put a stop to child
sexual abuse including those that are perpetrated online.
“The [Department of Justice] is working with telcos for a
filtering software to restrict access to porn/banned sites as we fight against
online child sexual abuse,” she said in an article posted in Futuregov.asia.
As per Presidential Proclamation 731 series of 1996, every
second week of February is known as the National Awareness Week for the
Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. This year’s observance will
be held on Feb. 8-14, and aims to provide awareness to the communities,
children, parents and the society as a whole on the said issue.
In support of this week’s awareness drive, Stairway Foundation
will have their “Break the Silence Movement,” a school caravan on online safety
simultaneously in NCR, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Dumaguete and in Zamboanga.
The Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), one of DSWD’s
attached agencies spearheads this week’s activities, to include a series of
engagements and forums with children on the national level.
April Obtinario, CWC focal for Mindanao encourages different
agencies, local government units and stakeholders to join in the advocacy. “The
CWC invites all sectors to participate and make our voices be heard so we can
put a stop to child sexual abuse in our own communities,” Obtinario said.
