Child Protection in the Philippines

The cause:

Child Protection and Girls' Rights

The facts:

• Most victims of commercial sexual abuse are females aged 13 to 18.
• 99% of sexually abused children are girls.
• Girls who are sexually abused are at risk of HIV/AIDS, STDs and teenage pregnancy.

The project:

Plan launched a project to prevent children and women from being trafficked, and to support recovery of survivors of trafficking and their reintegration into families and communities.

The details:

Preventing trafficking of children and women, as well as helping those who have been trafficked to re-claim their lives, starts with teaching communities about the problem. Using popular media, including theatre, posters, comics and radio infomercials, Plan is raising awareness about children's rights and the dangers of human trafficking in 174 communities.

Local organizations received training and support to help survivors of trafficking to re-integrate into their families and communities. Survivors are provided with counseling services and support to resume schooling or enter the workforce. Four crisis centers and two help desks were established to handle cases of trafficking, abuse and exploitation. Plan is also working directly with 21 municipalities to create and enforce laws to combat trafficking of women and children.

The big picture:

This project supports children's rights laid out in The Convention on the Rights of the Child:

• Article 19: Children must be protected from injury or abuse including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents or any other person.
• Articles 32 & 36: Children must be protected from economic exploitation, from [hazardous] work [and] all other forms of exploitation.
• Article 34: States shall protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
• Article 35: States shall prevent the abduction of, sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.

It also tackles one of the Millennium Development Goals, a set of 8 targets the world has agreed to achieve by 2015:

• Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women.