By Laurence LIGIER | Project Leader
CAMELEON and its partners organized 2 events named “Break the Silence” last August and September, in the Philippines, respectively in Panay and Negros islands where we are located.
Break the Silence is an annual event with the goal of raising awareness to overturn the culture of silence and taboo surrounding the issue of child rape. It also aims to eliminate the stigma, prejudice and discrimination against survivors of child sexual abuse.
Our beneficiaries, young girl victims of sexual abuse, introduced the events with dance shows. After the introduction, several speakers shared their expertise, among whom police officers and clinical psychologists.
The aim of these events was to highlight information on the rights of women and children, the roles of concerned agencies in handling victims of sexual abuse, and the participation of the different sectors in addressing these cases.
Break the Silence is a celebration of the Passing of RA 11648* and Sharing of CAMELEON partners communities best practices.
*Focus on the Republic Act 11648
With the help of its partners, notably the Child Rights Network, CAMELEON Philippines has been actively involved in advocating with national institutions to raise the age limit for sexual non-consent to 16, which until now had been set at 12. On December 1, 2020, the House of Representatives approved the bill to raise this threshold to 16. On March 7, 2022, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11648. This law provides better protection for child victims of sexual violence, notably by guaranteeing less burdensome and less psychologically distressing criminal proceedings. Up to the age of 16, victims will no longer need to prove that they did not consent, which is a step forward for our young girl beneficiaries, more than half of whom are 16 or under (56%).
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