AWARENESS OF CHILDREN ON THE PROVISION OF RA 7610

A Thesis Presented to
The Faculty of the Higher Education Department
of Mount Carmel College
Baler,Aurora

In Partial fulfilment of the

Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of science
In Criminology Program

RENELA GRACE L. AMORANTO

RON AETHAN V. BALUBAL
JAY VINCENT S. CERON
KING BRYAN I. MAGNO
EDEL LYKA R. ORDOŃA
MARK ANGELO A. PEŃARANDA
JAN RUSSEL C. SABBALUCA

FEBRUARY 2024
 CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The R.A 7610 was declared to be the policy of the State to provide special

protection to children from all firms of abuse, neglect, cruelty exploitation and

discrimination and other conditions, prejudicial their development, provide sanctions for

their commission and carry out a program for prevention and deterrence of and crisis

intervention in situations of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination. The State shall

intervene on behalf of the child when the parent, guardian, teacher or person having care

or custody of the child fails or is unable to protect the child against abuse, exploitation

and discrimination or when such acts against the child are committed by the said parent,

guardian, teacher or person having care and custody of the same.

Here in the Philippines, The prevalence of abuse is high, a UNICEF study in

2015 found that at least 17% of Philippine children aged 13 to 17 experienced sexual

violence while growing up. Comparative data is scant, but UNICEF figures from 2020

show that globally 12.5% of children have been sexually abused or exploited at some

point in their lives.

It is essential to give children accurate information and education in order to

increase their awareness of the provisions of R.A. 7610. In addition, community-based

programs and workshops can be organized to raise awareness among children and their

families about the rights and protections provided by R.A. 7610. Working with schools to

incorporate age-appropriate curriculum on child protection and the provisions of the law

can also help increase awareness among children. Parents and educators should play a

crucial role in this process by actively engaging with children and discussing the

provisions of the law. Furthermore, reaching a larger audience and educating kids about
R.A. 7610 can be accomplished by utilizing a variety of media platforms, including radio,

television, and social media. By putting these tactics into practice, we can raise children's

awareness of R.A. 7610's provisions and provide them the tools they need to defend

themselves and others against exploitation and abuse.

The 7610, otherwise known as the "Special Protection of children Against Child

Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act" serves as the primary law addressing child

abuse and providing measures for the protection and rehabilitation of child victims. It

defines the different forms of abuse and sets penalties for those found guilty of

committing such acts.

According to Kailash Satyarthi (2014), the silence of society towards cases of

abuse experience by children is like neglecting to help them. The children are the face of

our future leaving theme suffering is like watching our future Shattered in to pieces.

Educating and training the child to know and fight for the rights he has is giving them a

protection against abused. Violence can happen in any place. The government created

many units or offices that focus on child protections and implementation of law in

regards to child abuse. The biggest problem in most cases of child abuse is the child did

not know that he/she being molested or abused. The case only reported when a child

being seriously abused on the point that even recognizing him is difficult. The child

abuse is one of the common cases is society yet it cannot stop due to lack of knowledge

of our children to three rights as a child in our country.

CONCEPTUAL/THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

This study focused on the awareness of Children on the Provision of Republic Act

7610 wherein "Children" refers to person below eighteen (18) years of age or those over
but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect,

cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or

condition.

The Court of Appeals emphasized that consent of the child is immaterial in cases

involving violation of Section 5, Article III of R.A. 7610. It was held that the Sweetheart

Theory is a defense in acts of lasciviousness and rape that are felonies against or without

the consent of the victim.

The situation of child abuse, exploitation, and discrimination in Asia remain severe, and

the extent of the problem in the Philippines is alarming. The study was conducted to

assess the implementation of Child Abuse Act (RA 7610) in Manila as a basis for policy

advocacy. The researcher used the descriptive method of research as well as purposive

sampling based on the respondents’ involvement in the implementation of RA 7610. The

data were gathered utilizing a validated self-constructed questionnaire which was

supplemented by interview sessions. Results showed that the implementing rules and

regulations of RA 7610 are not totally enforced as assessed by the five groups of

respondents composed of 253 samples. Findings revealed that there is a great need for

education to increase public and multi-disciplinary professional as well as parental

awareness of child abuse and protection. Legislation of interdisciplinary community

collaboration and professional in-service training is very important for the recognition,

proper management, and prevention of child abuse and neglect. A proposed intervention

scheme was offered to help in empowering communities and local partners to strengthen

the protection of children from abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of violence to

improve their well-being and fulfill their rights to protection.

Research Paradigm

The research paradigm of the study is illustrated in Figure 1.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Survey
Profile of the Respondents: Questionnaire Identify the levels o
•Age awareness of children on
•Sex, and Data gathering the provisions of R.A 7610.
•Educational attainment and tabulating
and analysis of
the data.
 The Research Paradigm

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Generally, this study aimed to determine the awareness of children on the R.A

7610 in Baler, Aurora.

Specifically, the study aimed to provide answers to the following question:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of;

a) Age;

b) Sex; and

c) Educational Attainment?

2. What are the level of awareness of children on the Provisions of RA 7610 in Baler,

Aurora?

HYPOTHESIS

1.1. The children age 13-15 years old has low awareness on provisions of RA 7610, than

16-17 year old in Baler, Aurora.

1.2. The male children has low awareness on provisions of RA 7610, than female in

Baler, Aurora.

1.3. Out of school children has low awareness on provision of RA 7610, than children

who educated in Baler, Aurora.

2. Children in Baler, Aurora are fully aware on the provisions of R.A 7610.

SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study provide valuable information to the local government

and Barangay, to the youth of Baler, Aurora., and to the future researcher.

For the Researcher. This study may provide additional knowledge and deeper

understanding about on the awareness of children on the provisions of R.A 7610 in Baler,

Aurora.

For the Local Government and Barangay. This study will help the barangay

and local government as it will be a source of data information for the barangay and

municipal regarding the awareness of children aged 12-17 on R.A 7610 that can be

considered as their basis in the creation of programs that will help to protect the rights of

the youth.

For the Youth of Baler, Aurora. The youth of Baler, Aurora will benefit from

this research. This study will help them understand the importance of knowing their

rights, may feel honored that one way or another, they contributed positively in the

community.

For future researcher. This study may help future researcher as a useful basis

and future reference in undertaking further studies along with this topic.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

The general focus of this study is to determine the awareness of children on the

provisions of R.A. 7610 in the youth of Baler, Aurora.

 The respondents of this study are composed of eight hundred and ninety three

(893) children aged 13 to 17 years old at Baler, Aurora. The youth aged 18 above and

11 aged below are not included in this study, the period of conducting the study is within

the year 2023 to 2024.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Children. It is a persons below eighteen (18) years of age which shall include the

conceived but unborn child or those over eighteen (18) years but who are unable to fully

take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or

discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition.

Child Abuse. It is an act or omission as defined and penalized by republic Act No. 7610,

otherwise known as the "Special Protection of children Against Child Abuse,

Exploitation and Discrimination Act, " and/or crimes against children, including the

conceived but unborn child as provided for by the Revised penal Code and other pertinent

laws.

Cruelty. It is experience some of those children has a violence act through physical even

emotional mental abuse.

Discrimination. It is a children of indigenous cultural communities shall not be

subjected to any and all forms of discrimination.

Injury. It is the damage to the body of child caused of maltreatment.

Minor. It is defined as a child who not yet enough knowledge and awareness of their

rights like an adult.

Neglect. It is define to some children experiencing for not giving enough attention from

their family.
Protection. It is defined of being care for those children to make it them safe and

secured.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter present a review of related literature and studies both foreign and

local. This also present the different variable related to the study and provides an

overview of the R.A 7610 also known as Special Protection of Children Against Abuse,

Exploitation and Discrimination Act, in particular their importance, development, and

use.

Local related literature

Foreign Related Literature

ECPAT International (2016) is a group that works to stop the sexual exploitation of

children. They have an office in Bangkok and work all around the world. They focus on

issues like child exploitation, abusing child or trafficking children, tourist trips for sex

with children, and education about human rights for kids. ECPAT has over 100 member

organizations in 95 countries who help them do their work. They publish reports about

different countries where they are working to help others understand what's happening

there and how they can help stop it. They find out that 14 to 16 age of children are the

must aware about their rights. ECPAT and their partners use many ways to protect kids

from being exploited such as writing articles, using social media, educating people and

more. Further more International Bureau for Children’s Rights (IBCR) - (2014) is an
international organization aiming to increase the promotion of children’s rights across

North and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. They work with social

workers, defense and security forces, judicial system staff, civil society groups,

government agencies, and other organizations to implement child-friendly practices.

They also advocate for and raise awareness about children’s rights. IBCR is committed to

creating sustainable change by building capacity in communities and assessing various

stakeholders dealing with children’s rights. They focus specifically on issues relating to

children and emergency situations, exploitation and violence against children, and

children and the justice system. IBCR also provides training and conducts research to

help further their goal of increasing children’s rights. They equip local stakeholders with

information, resources, and tools to build their capacity to increase and advocate for

children’s rights.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter reveals the method of research by the researcher.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The study adopted the descriptive type of research. As define by Good and Scates

(1992), descriptive research includes studies that refer to prevent facts concerning the

nature and status of anything. It means in that descriptive research give meaning to

quality and standing of facts that are going on.

The descriptive methods were used by the researcher in this study, which has the

purpose of presenting facts about the study. This method described the data collected

through the use of the main treatment.

THE RESPONDENTS

The respondents of the study is composed of eight hundred and ninety three (893)

members made up of the children in Baler, Aurora, age range from thirteen (13) to

seventeen (17) years old who assume to agree to participate by accomplishing the

research-made survey questionnaires needed for this study.

THE INSTRUMENT

The study made use of a researcher made survey questionnaire base from the

researcher gathering facts in regards to the awareness of children aged 13 to 17 years old

on the provisions of R.A 7610 in order for the researcher to come up with the survey

questionnaire that used to attain the researchers’ objectives and to solve the problem.

The date gathering instrument is consist of two parts. The first part deals with the

demographic profile of respondents in terms of age, gender, and educational attainment

and the second part is consist of the level of awareness of children on the provisions of

R.A 7610 in Baler, aurora.

DATE GATHERING PROCEDURE

The researcher gathered facts about the awareness of children aged 13 to 17 on

the previsions of R.A 7610 in Baler, Aurora. Data gathered through the effort of the

researcher to look on matter relating to the topic. After gathering the data, a survey

questionnaire will be prepared. The questionnaire submitted to the adviser for comments

and suggestions regarding the format and item content and after the approval of the

adviser, the said survey questionnaire validated. The researcher then asked the consent of

the adviser, to allow administering the survey questionnaire to respondents. The

researcher contributed the survey questionnaire to the respondents and immediately

collected it for efficient process of data gathering.

After the information was gathered, the quantitative results computed while

qualitative data first transcribed, analyzed and then categorized to derive the significant

information.

STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA

All data were encoded, tallied, analyzed, and interpreted using descriptive

statistics.

The following statistical tools were used corresponding to the problem of the

study. It is used to calculate the sample size (n) given the population size (N) and a

margin of error (e). it is computed as n = N / (1 + Ne²) to minimize the respondents, we

use the slovin’s formula:

Slovin’s formula is calculated a:

n = N / (1 + Ne²)

Where :

• n = sample size

• N = population size

• e = acceptable margin of error

Weighted mean. This as used to determine the awareness of children aged 13 to 17 on the

provisions of R.A 7610 in Baler, Aurora.

5 Likert scale. This was used to interpret the data on the survey questionnaire used with

the computed weighted mean provided.

Assigned value Class Interval Verbal Description

 Interpretation

5 4.25 - 5 Fully Aware

4 3.5 - 4.24 Slightly Aware

3 2.75 - 3.49 Aware

2 1 - 2.74 Not Aware

1 0 - 0.9 Not interested

The formula for the class interval is: class interval = (highest option-lowest option)/

(number of option).