Kung nagagawa ang ganitong pang-aabuso sa isang high-profile detainee sa loob mismo ng Camp Crame, paano pa kaya sa mga ordinaryong correctional facilities?
And as we laud the decisive action taken by the PNP against one of its own for the sexual assault committed against former Ozamis City Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog here at the PNP Custodial Center, we also reiterate the need for concrete and effective mechanisms to address grievances of PDLs, and institutionalize investigative procedure for the cases of abuse being suffered by female detainees in jails and correctional facilities.
Violence against Women (VAW) in detention is an institutional problem which persists with brazen impunity. Walang ibang matakbuhan ang mga kababaihang detainees kaya nananahimik na lang ang marami sa kanila. Kaya’t tuloy-tuloy ang pang-aabuso hanggang sa nagiging bahagi na ito ng kultura sa mga kulungan sa ating bansa.
As early as 2017, I have been pushing for the passage of Women in State Custody Act, which I re-filed this 18th Congress as Senate Bill (SB) No. 378, to protect female PDLs from sexual and other abuses. It’s time that my colleagues in the Senate support this measure and investigate these VAW cases which may be piling up already and becoming a human rights crisis. Hindi dapat natin pinapalampas ang anumang pang-aabuso na ginagawa ng mga nasa kapangyarihan lalo na sa mga bulnerableng sektor, gaya ng kababaihan. ###
(Access the handwritten version of this Dispatch, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._937)