| Rape
has been the
primary abuse
committed
against children
in Region I from
1998 to 2000, as
it constituted
more than half
of the total
offenses during
the three year
span. Amid the
implementation
of the Death
Penalty Act in
1998, the number
of rape crimes
handled by the
Philippine
National Police
(PNP) Women’s
Desk in Region I
dropped by only
3.5 percent from
1998 to 1999,
but
significantly
climbed by 57.6
percent in
1999-2000. The
full
implementation
of the "Sumbong
Musmos"
program of the
PNP and the
establishment of
Women and Child
Desk Section in
all PNP offices
in the region
may have
encouraged
victims to come
forward and
report the
crimes.
Next to rape,
which composed
52.9 percent of
crimes against
children in
2000, the acts
of
lasciviousness
and physical
injury cases
constituted most
of the offenses,
at 17.2 and 7.8
percent,
respectively.
Except for
child rape
victims aged
4-8, which
trickled down by
21.4 percent,
the number of
victims in the
other age groups
increased in
2000. Rape
incidents in the
14-18 age
bracket almost
doubled, at 89.6
percent, while
cases involving
9-13 year old
girls rose by
40.0 percent.
Only one rape
victim was added
among those aged
below 4 years.
 |
Table
1. NUMBER OF
CHILD CASES
HANDLED BY
NATURE OF THE
CASE, 1998-2000
Table
2. CHILD RAPE
CASES HANDLED BY
AGE GROUP AND
PERPETRATORS,
2000
Source
of Basic Data:
Philippine
National Police,
Regional Office
I
The PNP Women’s
Desk statistics
showed that in
2000, the bulk
of child rape
perpetrators, in
all age
brackets, were
non-relatives of
the victims.
Accordingly,
69.1 percent of
the victims aged
14-18, had them
as their
offenders.
Meanwhile, most,
29.5 percent, of
incest rapes
were committed
by the children’s
uncles. A lone
case, on the
other hand, had
the grandfather
as the
perpetrator. |
