German Campaign Against Child Abuse Returns To Source Of
Inspiration
UCAN News
PL4814.1255 September 25, 2003 66 EM-lines (746 words)
PHILIPPINES
German Campaign Against Child Abuse Returns To Source Of Inspiration
OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- A
campaign against sex tourism and child abuse initiated by a Catholic agency
in Germany has come to the Philippines, from where it drew its inspiration.
Missio brought with it the four-meter
wide mural it has taken around Germany for four years as part of its
campaign. The mural features a huge photo of Pia Corvera, who was about 12
years old when Irish Columban Father Shay Cullen rescued her in 1996 from a
German sex offender in Olangapo City, 80 kilometers northwest of Manila.
Corvera was present when the mural was
unveiled Sept. 17 at a center Father Cullen's group runs in Olangapo for
abused girls and women. She introduced herself as an active youth advocate
who strongly opposes any form of child abuse, "not only in my country the
Philippines but all over the world."
Sexual abuse is not limited to sexual
intercourse, she later told UCA News. She said she promised to herself she
would pursue the struggle against child abuse and encourage other exploited
children to speak up against injustice.
Local politicians, representatives of
non-governmental groups and staff of Missio, the German Catholic bishops'
agency for international mission work, attended the ceremony.
Corvera's photo dominates the mural most
of them saw for the first time, but smaller shots of "Aktion Schutzengel"
(campaign guardian angel) supporters also appear on the work created by an
art lecturer from Cologne, Germany.
The many stops the mural has made during
four years of campaigning in Germany include the 2001 World Children's Day
celebration and the German parliament in Berlin. And all along, Missio
photographers have been taking photos of supporters willing to stand up and
be counted.
Joerg Nowak of Missio explained that
sponsors have agreed to pay one euro (US$1.15) "for each photograph of any
person who stood up openly against child prostitution and abuse." He said
his group still hopes to add to the more than 200,000 photos they have
collected, including photos of German President Johannes Rau and German
celebrities.
Armen Ehl, vice president of Missio in
Aachen, Germany, told UCA News the agency "cannot keep quiet" because
hundreds of thousands of "sex tourists" pass through German airports
annually. He added that they travel regularly to less developed countries
such as Kenya, the Philippines and Thailand.
On Sept. 19 and 20, "Campaign Guardian
Angel" volunteers reportedly roamed the departure area of the international
airport in Stuttgart, Germany, with gold and silver wings attached to their
backs, explaining the campaign and enlisting supporters.
Ehl said in Olangapo that his group has
asked Father Cullen and Corvera to go to Germany, where the young Filipina
could teach others "it is possible and makes sense to fight against" the
evil of sex tourism.
Corvera, whose German violator was jailed
for three-and-a-half years, said her dream is that "there would be no more
abuse in the next generation." She vowed to "do her very best today to make
this dream come true." She also stressed the importance of pursuing justice,
saying "peace will only prevail after justice has been achieved."
Florita Villar, a representative from the
Philippine government's social welfare department who attended the Olangapo
ceremony, praised Father Cullen's project in the city, site of a former U.S.
naval base.
She said the People's Recovery,
Empowerment and Development Assistance (PREDA) center has been "doing a good
job" in helping victims of sexual abuse.
Father Cullen founded PREDA in 1974 to
help prostitutes and drug users. Even after the Subic Bay Naval Base closed
in 1992, PREDA's home for sexually abused girls and women continued to
operate. It is equipped to provide therapy for up to 37 children suffering
from trauma. Center workers also monitor the red-light district of Olangapo
City regularly. The government wants to boost tourism in the area of the
former U.S. base, now a free port.
On the same day the mural was presented,
a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a shelter for boys released from jail was held
on the PREDA grounds. The new shelter provides outpatient counseling and
therapy for drug addicts.
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
estimates that about 1 million children, mainly girls, are exploited every
year in the "multibillion-dollar sex industry." However, it reports on its
website that the "commercial sexual abuse of children is fueled by local,
not foreign, demand, with sexual tourism only a small part of the problem."
Children are "most often sexually abused by those closest to them," the
UNICEF report says.
END
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