A NON-GOVERNEMENT organization focused on the protection of young women against sexual exploitation and human trafficking urged the prosecutors to be “sensitive” in handling legal cases involving children so that they will not be traumatized.
Talikala-Davao executive director Jeanette Ampong said during Kapehan sa Dabaw yesterday at SM Annex, Ecoland, Davao City that there are lawyers who are not trained on dealing with cases involving minors, raising inappropriate questions without minding their psychological effect on the part of the victims.
One of the traumatizing parts for the victims is when they are made to recall how the incident happened. Some lawyers would also ask victims why they wore revealing clothes or stayed late at night, a case of victim-blaming.
“Bisan naay mga balaod nga naa karon sa atoa nga nagaprotekta sa mga bata, padayon nga nagataas ang ihap sa mga kaso sa bata and importante nga ang mga abogado or ang mga lawyers kahibalo dili lang sa balaod kundi katong pag-handle sa mga bata kay possible nga ang biktima diha sa process sa judicial ma-further traumatized in questioning, pagpangutana sa ilaha [Although there were a lot of laws already aimed to protect the children, cases of children continue to persist nowadays. The important thing is the lawyers should know not only the laws but also how to handle children],” Ampong said.
Based on their record, there were a total of 105 rape cases from May 2017 up to present involving children, however only 15 have sought legal advice while nine have filed cases. The victims are as young as two years old.
For child trafficking, from January to September 2018, they’ve had 64 cases. However, there were only few who had pursued the case.
The apparent small number of pursued cases is due to the long judicial process wherein the victims no longer want to proceed with the daunting procedure because normally the judicial process would take five years. Another possibility is that the victims and the suspects might have already reached settlement agreement.
Another reason may also be that the victims are underprivileged and could not afford legal expenses. (JCR)