"Did you enjoy it?"

This is just one of the extreme questions being asked of child rape victims as young as 12 years old in court hearings.

Under our law, sexual intercourse with a child as young as 12 is NOT automatically considered as child rape. We have seen numerous cases of children recounting in court their experiences of abuse in the hands of sexual predators because they still have to prove the absence of consent.

We need to amend our anti-rape law. The Child Rights Network pushes to increase the age to determine statutory rape in the Philippines from 12 to at least 16 years old. For statutory rape, the child only needs to prove 2 things: his or her age and that the sexual act happened.

We must protect our children NOW.

If you wish to ask questions, request for a partnership, or join the Child Rights Network, send an email to crnphilippines@gmail.com.

#ENDChildRape