9 women raped daily in RP in 2009

MANILA, Philippines - Nine women were reported raped each day in 2009, mostly in Metro Manila, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) statistics, Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said yesterday.

Taliño-Mendoza said the incidence of rape rose by 22 percent to a total of 3,159 rape cases reported to authorities nationwide last year, up from the 2,585 recorded over the same period in 2008, based on Philippine National Police statistics.

“The actual number of rape cases is of course much higher than those reported, possibly as many as 6,000, since many women and girls still opt not to complain to the authorities,” she said in a statement.

She cited a study showing that “half of rape victims would not file a complaint because of the stigma and the embarrassment of recalling their ordeal to the authorities.”

Taliño-Mendoza, a gubernatorial candidate in her home province, said the 2009 figures translate into an average of almost nine rape cases being committed every day, or one incident every two-and-a-half hours.

Metro Manila had the highest cases with 466 rape incidents last year; followed by Western Visayas, 429; Central Luzon, 316; Calabarzon, 312; Bicol, 293; Southern Mindanao, 203; Central Visayas, 160; and Mimaropa, 153.

Ilocos had 145 cases; Northern Mindanao, 144; Eastern Visayas, 119; Western Mindanao, 109; Cordillera, 93; Caraga, 78; Central Mindanao, 73; Cagayan Valley, 53; and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, 13.

To address the rising incidents of rape and other sexual assaults on Filipino women and children, Taliño-Mendoza called for the following measures: the establishment of a rape crisis center in every city and province, as mandated by the Rape Victims’ Assistance and Protection Act; the creation of a desk for women and children in every barangay hall; and a forceful campaign against drug and alcohol abuse, and all forms of pornography.

She also pushed for the installation of a National Sex Offender public website patterned after that of the United States, to enable the public to alert themselves about the possible presence of sex malefactors in their communities; and setting up of fully trained anti-sex crimes units in every regional police office.

Meanwhile, a women’s rights group urged the government yesterday to look into cases of violence against women in the country and to “actively prosecute rape cases.”

“The rise in reports of cases could be a proof that perpetrators were emboldened because of ineffective prosecution of rapists in the past,” EnGenderRights executive director Clara Rita Padilla said in a text message to The STAR.