Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday revised a law under which the age of sexual consent has now been raised to 16. As per child rights activists, this move will protect youngsters from rape and abuse.
Under the new law, sex with a person under 16 will be illegal. It will also carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in jail.
Earlier, the nation had one of the lowest ages of consent in the world. It allowed adults to have sex with children as young as 12 if they agreed.
Margarita Ardivilla, child protection specialist at the UN children’s fund UNICEF in the Philippines said, “Having this law is a very good protective instrument for our children from sexual violence, whether or not it starts online or whether or not it also starts in a face-to-face encounter.”
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“It is very important to have a clear age to determine statutory rape and the below 12 of a 1930 law was just something that was unjustifiable.”
A joint 2015 study by UNICEF and the Center for women’s resources, which is a local non-governmental group, showed that 7 out of 10 rape victims in the Philippines were children. The study further revealed that one in every five respondents aged 13 to 17 reported experiencing sexual violence.
Also, one in 25 experienced forced consummated sex during childhood.
As per Rowena Legaspi, executive director of the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center, the law “sends a very strong message that child rape is a heinous crime and must be punished accordingly.”
(With inputs from agencies)
