ABOUT 800 cases of abuse were committed against children in the Davao Region during the first 10 months of the year, the Women’s and Children Protection Desk of the Police Regional Office 11 reported Monday.
Major Kristine Miraña, chief of the office, said during the Kapihan sa Dabaw at SM City said that the alarming situation is that there were more cases of rape and other abuses committed on children than those committed on adult women.
“Our data would show that there are many incidents happening involving children as compared with adult women,”said Miraña, as the PRO has strengthened its advocacy on violence against children as the country commemorates the National Children’s Month.
Miraña, however, added that her office has yet to compare the figures this year to the same period last year.
As a result of the intensified campaign, she said that of the cases filed, 30% resulted in the arrest of the suspects, while cases were filed in 60% of them.
She added that most of the incidents happened inside the houses of the victims and that many of the abusers were either drunk or using illegal drugs.
She added that it is hard to prevent these cases because they happened inside the homes of either the victims or their abusers. “So these crimes are very challenging…we really need to intensify our advocacy especially in Barangay levels,” Miraña said.
She said the role of the barangay officials is huge because they can monitor their constituents and identify households whose children are vulnerable to abuse. “So for us it, our advocacy is to let them understand, particularly the parents, that there are dangers lurking in their houses,” she said.
