THE Council for the Welfare of Children and the United Nations Children’s Fund on Wednesday urged government, civic and religious leaders, and private individuals to help in their effort to stop violence against children.
The CWC and Unicef made the appeal amid reports that about one-billion children worldwide had experienced sexual and emotional violence, bullying or had witnessed violence.
In the Philippines alone, the results of the 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence against Children showed that three out of five children encountered physical and psychological violence while one out of five suffered from sexual violence.
The CWC also reported that five out of 10 children suffered from cyber or online violence, including verbal abuse and sexual messages over the Internet or mobile phones, being shown other people’s sex videos and photos, and having their own nude body or sexual activities shown online or via cellular phone.
CWC head for policy and planning division Ma. Consolacion Salcedo said one in five children aged below 18 encountered sexual violence, with most girls experiencing harm from brothers or cousins.
The study stated that one of five children aged 13 to 18 experience sexual violence at home, school and in the community, while two out of five commit a form of physical violence with their peers.
It also showed that children’s previous experiences of violence, especially at home, are risk factors for bullying behaviour in school.
From the study, the CWC cited 59.2 percent of the children also experience psychological violence, which include verbal abuse—belittling, humiliating, cursing, saying bad words, shouting, calling names, being embarrassed in public—threats of being harmed and feelings of actual abandonment.
Eight in 10 LGBT children are also physically and psychologically abused.
The proportion of child violence was highest (75 percent) among the LGBTs compared to heterosexual males (65.9 percent) an females (61.8 percent).
“For these children, it is perpetuated largely by people they know and trust; it takes place in the home,” said Unicef Philippines representative Julia Rees.
Seven out of 10 children “do not avail [themselves] of local child protection systems in their community,” the CWC also reported.
On Wednesday, the CWC and the Unicef in close coordination with nongovernment organizations launched the Philippine Plan for Action to End Violence Against Children in a bid to prevent or reduce violence against youths.
PPAEVAC is a multi-sectoral road map designed to stop or reduce violence against children. It “gathers commitments of all government agencies and institutions, local and international NGOs, civil society and faith-based organizations, professionals, the academe, private sectors, parents and children into collective whole.”
It can also serve as a guide for policy makers, planning and programming officials, researchers and donors who want to make a meaningful contribution to violence against children prevention and response by addressing the gaps in the policies, programs, data and resources indicated in the plan.
During the launching held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, various government agencies and lawmakers pledged and committed their full support to resolve to problem.
The government agencies include the Departments of Justice; Social Welfare and Development; Health, Interior and Local Government, and Education. The local government of Davao City, including the offices of Mayor Sara Duterte and Davao 1st district Rep. Karlo Nograles, also pledged their support to the program.
The following are the key result areas and strategies of the PPAEVAC:
1) Parents and caregivers are aware of and practicing evidence-based parenting skills and positive discipline with a view to building a safe, nurturing and protective environment (lead agency: DSWD);
2) Children and adolescents demonstrate personal skills in managing risks, protecting themselves from violence, reporting their experience of violence and seeking professional help when needed (lead agency: Education);
3) All children have access to appropriate and quality protective, social, mental, health, legal, economic and judicial services, ensuring that violence and trauma are prevented from recurring (lead agency: DoJ and DSWD);
4) A well-developed and effectively managed monitoring and evaluation system for the Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence against Children is in place (lead agency: CWC and Health);
All VAC-related laws are in place and successfully enforced (lead agency: CWC); and
Multi-stakeholder child protection structures and systems at the national, provincial, municipal, city and barangay levels are operational and effectively functioning (lead agency: CWC and DILG).
DSWD officer-in-charge Emmanuel Layco said that children were directly involved in the forming of the action plan.
“Children themselves gave their inputs on what they believe to be their ideal home, school, and community settings and as they are the focus of this plan, their ideas and insights are invaluable,” he said.