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total of 1,054 victims of child abuse in the region were served
by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in
1999, indicating an approximate of three children being
victimized daily. It can be noted that there is a significant
increase in incidence of sexual abuse of children, child labor
and child trafficking, three of the current and most urgent
areas of concern in Philippine society. On the other hand, there
were cases such as pedophilia, strandee and witness/voluntary
committed, which had a negative percent change for the
two-year-period because of absence or presence in the succeeding
year.
Sexual abuse was
the predominant form of child abuse in the region comprising
38.3 percent of all cases in 1998 and 37.1 percent in 1999. The
number of sexually abused children increased by 29.9 percent
from 301 cases in 1998 to 391 cases in 1999. Under this
category, rape had the highest recorded number of victims with
202 cases in 1998 and 216 cases in 1999. This was followed by
incest, which victimized 82 children in 1998 and 151 children in
1999, posting a significant 84.1 percent increase.
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