LUCENA CITY鈥擯olice are attributing an increase in the number of rape cases in the province this year, with mostly minor victims, to a growing awareness about the need to report the crimes and the willingness of victims to face the stigma wrongly associated with being a rape victim.
According to the Quezon provincial police office, the number of rape cases in the province reached 241 from January until this month, half of these involving minors as victims.
A copy of a report furnished Inquirer said 168 of the victims are children as young as 7 years old. The oldest victim is 73 years old.
Senior Supt. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Quezon police chief, said victims are now more courageous in reporting to police.
On Dec. 7, five cases of rape were simultaneously reported to police stations in this city and the towns of Candelaria, Sariaya and Padre Burgos. One of the victims is a 7-year-old child.
鈥淭he victims and their families are no longer ashamed to come out in the open. They are now emboldened to report the rape cases to police,鈥� Ylagan said on Thursday.
The police report said among the cases involving minors as victims, at least nine are incestuous (committed by a relative), statutory (having sex with minors), two were aggravated by homicide and six cases were considered attempted rapes.
The report said in 10 of the cases, the suspects themselves are minors.
Ylagan said parents have a key role to play in preventing rapes. He said parents should keep watch over the peer groups of their children.
Rape prevention, he said, is the duty of the entire community.
The report said the number of rape cases this year is higher than previous years. In 2012, police listed a total of 182 cases; 2013, 221; and 2014, 234.
Under the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, or Republic Act No. 8353, rape is no longer defined as 鈥渁 crime against chastity鈥澛� but a 鈥渃rime against persons.鈥澛� This means the law now allows anyone to file a case on behalf of the victim, unlike in the past when only the victim can file a case against the molester.
Senior Insp. Elena Eleazar, head of Lucena police women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 protection desk, said public awareness due to massive information and education campaigns run by the women鈥檚 desks of local police stations across the province has encouraged victims and their families to go after rapists.
She also attributed the increase in the number of rape cases to the proliferation of pornographic material and easy access to lewd shows in the Internet.
Late last month, the Provincial Committee Against Trafficking-Violence Against Women and Children and the Provincial Gender and Development Office launched an 18-day campaign to end violence against women and children.