ILOILO City – The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) reported a decline in the number of rape and violence against children cases last year.
The number of reported rape cases in 2018 reached 143, which is 36-percent lower than 194 in 2017, IPPO records showed.
The incidence of violence against children, meanwhile, dropped 22 percent – with 387 cases in 2018, lower compared to 474 in 2017.
Most of the violence against children cases were in the form of physical abuse, reaching 213 in 2018.
They were followed by the other acts of abuses with 97 cases and acts of lasciviousness with 64.
Police Lieutenant Ma. Liza Nofuente, chief of the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) of IPPO, said the reported cases mostly occur at the victims’ residence.
The IPPO conducts symposium in schools and communities to inform the children of their rights, she added.
“Touching rules” – which teach kids not to allow anyone to touch their private parts – are taught to the children.
“We gather the children and inform them to report to a trusted adult and to the police any acts that were committed to them that are against their will,” Nofuente said on Saturday.
Despite the decline, the IPPO and nongovernment organization Cameleon Association Inc. believe that there are still abused children who are afraid to come forward.
“Most of the children remain silent because they feel that they are less powerful than adults, or they are obliged to obey their parents,” Japhet Grace Moleta, Cameleon’s advocacy officer said.
She added that most perpetrators of rape and violence against children are victims’ acquaintances.
“Perpetrators see an opportunity to attack when the mother or a trusted adult is away. Most cases happen at residential places given the economic conditions where an extended family shares under one roof,” said Moleta. (With a report from PNA/PN)
