Justice for child rape victims

EVERY now and then we read reports of young girls being raped or perverts being charged and arrested for statutory rape. These are deeply disturbing.

As Congress resumes its plenary sessions, child rights advocates are calling on the Senate to expedite the proceedings for pending bills that seek to increase the age for determining the commission of statutory rape from below 12 to below 16.

Last Dec. 1, 220 the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) 7836 or the End Child Rape Bill, with 207 votes in favor and 3 against. In the Senate, several counterpart measures have already passed at the committee level. However, the Senate plenary has yet to tackle the consolidated version of the pending bills. The Senate Justice Committee has yet to conclude its deliberations on the said bills.

It is high time for the Philippines to leave the archaic age limit in determining statutory rape. Before HB 7836, the age to determine statutory rape in the country was the lowest in Asia and one of the lowest in the world at 12, only bested by Nigeria at age 11. We hope that before Congress adjourns, this bill can be passed and signed into law for us to provide better access to justice for child rape victims.

There are only a few session days left before Congress adjourns. Yet, we think there is enough time for our senators to study the proposed bill expeditiously, and internalize the voluminous studies, evidence-based reports, and community-level consultations that served as basis for drafting this bill.

In the version passed by the House of Representatives, which has undergone consultations with advocates, survivors, and family court judges, the following salient provisions were included:

* Increasing the age to determine statutory rape from below 12 to below 16

* Equalizing the protection for victims of rape, whether a boy or a girl

* Adopting the “close in age exemption,” which serves to reduce or eliminate the penalty of the crime in cases where the couple’s age difference is minor

* Removing the “marriage as forgiveness” exemption where the perpetrator is freed of legal responsibility if the perpetrator marries the person he raped.

Every single day that the passage of this important bill is delayed is another day of exposing children to the dangers of the archaic provisions of the Revised Penal Code on statutory rape.