Sexual Violence

Although there are many laws in the Philippines to prevent sexual violence, such as the 2022 law that raised the age of consent to 16. Sexual violence, especially pedophilic sexual violence, is still extremely prevalent.

The Philippines Revised Penal Code

After being amended by RA No. 8353 and RA No. 116481

The Philippines Revised Penal Code states that rape happens under 5 circumestances:

Through force, threat, or intimidation
When the victim is deprived of reason or is unconscious
Through fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority
When the victim is below 16 years of age or is demented, even if none of the above circumstances are present
A woman must be the victim (in certain cases-- not stated as an explicit rule, but could be used as a loophole in a legal scenario), and a man must be the perpetrator (same disclaimer as above)

As you can see, there are many ways rape or sexual assault could fly under the extremely loose laws in place on sexual violence.

Underage Sexual Violence

It is estimated that 7,000,000 children each year experience sexual violence in the Philippines:

Sexual violence is involved in 72% of child abuse in the Philippines.
Most victims are child prostitutes/human trafficking/street crime victims.
- Evaluating intimate-partner-violence data, it is likely that many sexual violence against children cases involve lovers, family, and mentor figures as perpetrators.
98% of these victims are girls.
Sexually transmitted blood-borne diseases (STBBIs) are much more effective against younger victims.

Traditional Filipino culture calls for victims of sexual violence to keep their trauma close to their chest as to not “ruin the reputation” of family and friends. This culture of silence makes victims ashamed to speak up, and combined with a lack of faith in the Philippines’ justice/governmental system, the number of reported sexual violence cases is estimated to be much lower than the actual amount of sexual violence being perpetrated.

Children are considered “owned” by their family until marriage or adulthood.
Sexual violence is quite common in families. Rape and sexual assault by familial figures is a large problem in the Philippines, and many victims are kept silent about their trauma.
- Sexual violence could occur because of alcohol/drug usage, gang coercion/peer-pressure, or simply because a person “misbehaved” or “wanted it.”
- In cultures of silence, much of the blame is placed on the victim if they do decide to speak out.
  - In a survey conducted on 10 Filipino women, they concluded that sexual violence against women was “inevitable,” and likely due to misbehavior from the victim.