Save youth from assault–NGO

CHILDREN play “luksong tinik” despite their condition at the evacuation centers in Zamboanga City. KARLOS MANLUPIG/INQUIRER MINDANAO

ZAMBOANGA CITY—International organization Save the Children has called on the government and other aid organizations to implement tighter measures to ensure the safety of children against child prostitution, assault and trafficking in Zamboanga’s evacuation centers.

With over 100,000 residents staying in 35 different evacuation centers, 40,000 are children who are vulnerable to various risks, Save the Children said in a statement.

“These displaced children have been through a terrible ordeal of fleeing their homes due to armed conflict. They are frightened, distressed and may not understand what is happening around them. Yet they are now faced with other major threats, such as sexual assault, abuse and trafficking,” said Ariel Balofinos, program manager for Save the Children in Mindanao.

“Our team, partners and local newspapers on the ground have reported cases of rape, attempted rape and child prostitution in recent days, which are simply intolerable,” Balofinos added.

The Inquirer learned that some evacuees at Joaquin

F. Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex here have allegedly resorted to prostitution.

After dinnertime, a bunch of young girls with their handlers would gather in a smelly bathroom under the bleachers at the sports complex, where they would engage in paid sex, said evacuee “Abdullah,” not his real name, who requested anonymity for fear the handlers would get back at him.

“We notice men, mostly in their teens and 20s, enter the bathroom,” Abdullah added.

Abdullah said parents like him are alarmed because some of the girls are underage.

“Fatima,” another evacuee who requested anonymity, said that when she went to the bathroom at 2 a.m. on Friday, she was shocked to a see a guy and a girl having sex on the floor.

“They were using a ripped cardboard as a mattress,” Fatima, who hurriedly left, said.

Some evacuees interviewed by the Inquirer on Sunday morning said they believe the youngsters have made the bathroom their makeshift prostitution den.

“We saw a group of gay men leading them. They are like the handlers of these girls. We saw them calling or texting men who would later arrive in the bathroom,” Susan said.

These alleged “handlers” would sometimes call and give instructions to their alleged clients to proceed to the bathroom, which they called the “house.”

Abdullah narrated that they would regularly see males climbing the walls of the sports complex late in the evening just to go and meet with the girls.

“When they are done, they climb up the wall to go outside,” Abdullah said.

The gates of the evacuation center are closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. in accordance with the curfew being implemented in the city.

“It is like they do not care if we see them. There was this instance when I poured water at them from the top of the bleachers so they would go away,” Fatima said.

“We cannot understand. Do they need the money so badly or is it that they are just enjoying it?” she asked.

Some of those interviewed by the Inquirer on Sunday morning claimed that in some instances, they saw the men giving money to the girls.

Zenaida Arevalo, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional director, admitted to receiving reports on the alleged prostitution activities inside the evacuation center but that she was still confirming them.

Arevalo said the evacuation center management has drafted preventive mechanisms inside the sports complex.

“We ensured the visibility of police to prevent this. We have also requested additional lighting,” she said.

Arevalo said additional police forces have already been deployed to secure both the perimeter and the interior of the evacuation center.

Save the Children asserted that aside from security patrols, the government should also intensify its education campaign to raise the awareness of the displaced residents.

“Camps will require better lighting, greater patrol and safe areas for children to gather with supervision. Government agencies need to help raise awareness among evacuees in these camps so that they understand that such acts on children will not be tolerated and that they are responsible in ensuring that children are safe. Parents and other adults need to be vigilant and work together to keep the place secure,” Balofinos said. Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao