Youth sexual abuse survivor group hits 'spurious' DepEd abuse hotline
MANILA, Philippines — A youth group of gender equality advocates and victim-survivors of sexual abuse in schools hit the Department of Education's helpline for survivors of harassment, calling it “a scam for the ages with the intent of deceiving the public" after it ran tests on the hotline which ultimately could not be reached.
In a statement sent to the media Monday morning, the group called Enough is Enough said it attempted to reach out to the landline and mobile numbers provided by the DepEd several times on three different occasions the past week on December 4, 6 and 9.
On all attempts, the group said it failed to get in touch with any of the department’s supposed “Child Protection Specialists."
To recall, the DepEd weeks ago launched the “Learner Rights and Protection Office” website and national hotline as a culmination event in celebration of National Children’s Month in an effort to “further strengthen its efforts to protect learners from abuse, violence, and exploitation." It claimed this was its initiative amid mounting sexual abuse cases in schools since the re-opening of face-to-face classes.
“We are extremely disappointed and troubled after being led to believe that Vice President and concurrent DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte was on top of the problem but is clearly more focused on painting a rosy picture of what is clearly a deceitful and ineffective leadership to combat sexual abuse,” said Sophia Beatriz Reyes, the group’s lead convenor.
The group called the hotline a smokescreen meant to show that concrete steps are being undertaken to address the problem of sexual abuse in educational institutions. It also claimed that since engaging and submitting their recommendations to the DepEd’s Child Protection Unit last October 29, the department has failed to act upon them.
Pre-pandemic, students of a number of high schools and universities demanded their schools to investigate allegations of sexual abuse as the hashtag #DoBetter went viral on social media. Just days into the re-opening of on-site classes, DepEd said it was investigating six Cavite teachers for allegations of sexually harassing their own students.
Most recently, allegations of sexual, verbal and emotional abuse at the Philippine High School for the Arts, a government-run boarding school came to light in a VICE World News report which claimed that a "culture of sexual abuse thrived for decades" at the state-owned institution. This prompted a formal investigation by the Senate panel on women, children, family relations, and gender equality.
Enough is Enough was formed at the height of the uproar after sexual abuse at the Bacoor National High School became public and pushed for predators and enablers to be charged with criminal and administrative cases and have their professional licenses revoked.
It also called for the establishment of a national registry of offenders where sexual abusers are blacklisted and barred from employment that involves vulnerable sections of the population.
“The DepEd must get their act together if it wishes to fulfill its mandate in keeping schools a safe space and protecting learners. Our rights are being further compromised with their public stunts and gimmickry, both students and parents alike demand concrete actions to our grievances,” Reyes said.
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