PHILIPPINES
Inquirer
By Jerome Aning, Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:23 am | Saturday, February 11th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines—A party-list lawmaker on Friday said the usual reaction of victims of sexual abuse by members of the Philippine clergy was to keep silent, either in deference to the Church or for fear of scandal.
In at least one case, the clergy sought to protect its own by simply moving the priest to another parish, Gabriela Representative Luz Ilagan told the Inquirer.
“In our culture, where there is a long history of control by the Catholic Church, there is deference to them. And then the victims feel shame. Their emotions get all mixed up, so they are afraid to report what happened,” Ilagan said. “Who will believe you? You are complaining against someone who has moral ascendancy.”
Victims also keep the abuse to themselves because they don’t want the stigma associated with it and because they feel they would be dishonored if they revealed what happened, she said.
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