Gabriela wants anti-rape law amended

MANILA, Philippines - Gabriela party-list Representatives Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan want the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 amended.

De Jesus and Ilagan have filed House Bill 6170, which they said would provide for clearer instances or situations as basis for the filing of rape cases.

“It will also address the special situation of those who, by reason of their mental or physical state, are unable to give consent. The law needs to zero in on the absence of consent as a central element in the crime of rape,” they said.

Under the bill, lack of consent is presumed under the following circumstances: when there is act of force, threat and intimidation; grave abuse of authority; victim is unconscious; victim has mental disability; victim is below 15 years old, and when the offender is a biological or adoptive parent.

Rape is deemed consummated when the victim’s genital, mouth or anal orifice is touched by another person’s sexual organ or any part of his or her body, or any object used to commit rape.

The lawmakers said a non-consensual sexual act committed through fraudulent machination, grave abuse of authority or moral ascendancy is as deplorable as a non-consented sexual act perpetrated with the use of force or physical violence.

“The bill does away with the requisite of proving a legal relationship between parties in cases of rape involving relatives as when rape is committed by a parent against a child,” they said.

It also provides that video recording acts of sexual abuse and disseminating the recorded material are aggravating circumstances of the offense.

They cited the case of a university student in Las Piñas who was drugged and raped by a group of young men then uploaded a video of the crime on the Internet.

“Such acts of recording and public dissemination are not among the circumstances that aggravate the crime of rape in the current (rape) law,” they said.

Bill 6170 also seeks to recognize other forms of unwanted sexual conduct against males, young boys or even those who belong to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sector.

“Rape is no doubt the most horrendous of all forms of sexual violence and is one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against a person,” the lawmakers said.