CAMELEON Association Inc., a non-governmental organization dedicated to ending child sexual abuse held its first Break the Silence conference on September 22, at Bacolod City Government Center.
Break the Silence (BTS) is an annual conference held by CAMELEON to call for action and encourage partnership from participating organizations, local government units, advocates, stakeholders, and experts to strengthen its campaign for child protection.
Themed “The Holistic Journey to Child Protection & Recovery”, in partnership with the Zonta Club of Bacolod and under the active support and guidance of CAMELEON’s longstanding proponent and newly elected Board of Trustees member Riza Locsin-dela Rama, CAMELEON brought BTS to Negros to reinforce its program for the protection of girl survivors and the prevention of sexual abuse.
Laurence Ligier, the foundress of CAMELEON, expressed her support and called for continuous cooperation from partners and private sectors for the organization’s programs. She was only 25 years old when she established the organization.
In a video message, she said, “I support the Break the Silence conference in Negros. This is the first time we are organizing in Negros. CAMELEON has been existing for 26 years, mostly based in Iloilo and Passi and we have had a center in Silay City since 2019.”
In addition, Ligier said that the Break the Silence conference is rather a start of an extensive advocacy movement against child sexual abuse. She said, “Once the child speaks, we really have to be here. All of us to help, to give justice, to put the perpetrator in jail. If the child wanted to file a case, at least to protect them from further abuse.”
In 2019, CAMELEON opened its third rehabilitation center in Silay City, Negros Occidental. The center can house up to 30 young girl survivors of sexual abuse at a time. These girls are from various localities in Negros Occidental. Through the organization’s intervention and support which includes the provision of basic needs, education, psychosocial intervention, legal support, health services, and sports, and circus activities, these survivors can continue their lives and move forward as despite the trauma that they endured.
“Her stepfather loved and cared for her. She considers him her real father. She trusted him so much. She never thought that he would ruin her life and dreams, but he did it. That person that she trusted raped her. She was been raped since she was 10 years old.” Jackie (not her real name), one of the girls from the CAMELEON center in Silay, speaking in third person, she described her experience of abuse during the BTS conference.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office has recorded 249 reports of child sexual abuse-related cases such as Acts of Lasciviousness, Rape, R.A 7610, and R.A 9208 from January to August 2023. Also, most of these incidents took place at the victims’ residence.
These statistics were presented by P/Capt. Wilma Silva of the Negros Provincial Women and Children Protection Desk (PWCPD).
These numbers show reported cases only. In reality, there could be ten times more cases of violence against women and children (VAWC) but the victims are unable, even worse, threatened, to report to the authorities.
In response to these increasing cases of sexual abuse, CAMELEON is committed to continuing its mission to combat sexual abuse. The organization relies on its partners for support, funding, and endorsements of its programs. Among its global partners is the Cooperation Humanitarian Luxembourg (CHL). In his inspirational video message, CHL President Francois Prum reiterated the initiatives of CAMELEON to prevent sexual abuse in the community.
“Over the last years, CAMELEON developed advocacy programs all over the barangays. This program is one of the most important ones of CAMELEON as we try to do our best to inform the children about their rights. Involving local partners like Zonta or the communities and the authorities in the Philippines is another step in our actions against child sexual abuse.”
The Zonta Club of Bacolod, a reliable partner of CAMELEON in Negros led by Reeda Bantug, acknowledges the actions of CAMELEON. She believes that sexual abuse is a daunting social issue. In her speech, she said, “So, on behalf of your partner organizations like the Zonta Club of Bacolod and other NGOs and government units, I would like to extend our gratitude to the CAMELEON family for taking this bold responsibility in dealing with the ills of our society, for being a strong partner of the government in nation building.”
This Break the Silence conference was attended by 115 participants consisting of representatives from LGUs, MSWDOs and CSWDOs, NGOs, advocates, stakeholders, partners, and experts related to child protection. The resource speakers included Police Captain Wilma E. Silva of the PWCPD who gave a lecture on Statistics of Child Sexual Abuse in the Province of Negros Occidental, Vincent Parra who is the Office-in-Charge of the Commission on Human Rights Region 6 – Bacolod Provincial Office and shared the roles and available services of his office to the victims of sexual abuse, and Dr. Johhny Decatoria, a child expert who discussed the Psychological Effects of Sexual abuse to the victims.
During the active discussion among the resource speakers and participants, it was noted that there is a need to strengthen the existing reporting and response mechanisms related to child sexual abuse, increase awareness campaigns in the community, and continue collaboration between CAMELEON and participating organizations to prevent more cases of child sexual abuse. Dr. Johnny Decatoria noted as he discussed his experience in working with child sexual abuse survivors, “Prevention is better than treatment.”*
