UN Philippines to Congress: Prioritize bill increasing age to determine statutory rape

UN Philippines to Congress: Prioritize bill increasing age to determine statutory rape

The United Nations (UN) Philippines on Thursday called on Congress to prioritize the measure increasing the age for determining  the commission of statutory rape to below 16 years old from the current below 12 years old as the third regular session opens next week.

In a press statement, UN Philippines along with representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNFPA, and UNICEF Philippines lamented that the current age of sexual consent in the Philippines is the “lowest in Asia” and one of the lowest in the world.

This means Philippine children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, the UN body said.

“The United Nations system in the Philippines underscores the urgency of passing legislation currently being considered by both Houses of Congress as an essential step towards fulfilling children’s rights to protection from sexual violence, abuse and exploitation, regardless of their sex, orientation and gender identity and expression,” read the statement.

UN Philippines also acknowledged the following provisions included in both versions of the bill in the Senate and House of Representatives:

• Increasing the age to determine statutory rape from below 12 to below 16
• Equalizing the protection for victims of rape, regardless of gender
• Adopting the “close in age exemption,” which serves to  avoid criminalizing adolescents of similar ages for factually consensual and non-exploitative sexual activity
• Removal of marriage as forgiveness exemption where the perpetrator is freed of legal responsibility if the perpetrator marries the victim.

Likewise, the UN said it is committed to supporting the Philippine government to create a safe environment for children.

“We commend other ongoing legislative efforts that seek to protect our children from other forms of violence such as online sexual abuse and exploitation,” UN further said.

In December last year, House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the bill setting the age of statutory rape to 16 years old regardless of sexual orientation of the victims and offenders.

The Senate, on the other hand, approved the counterpart bill at the joint panel level.

In a 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children, one in every five children in the Philippines in the age group of 13 to 17 said they experienced sexual violence while one in 25 suffered from forced consummated sex during childhood.

This study also bared that perpetrators of sexual violence are often family members. Further more boys than girls are reporting that they experienced sexual abuse.—AOL, GMA News