Experiences of child sexual abuse clients in a Women and Children Protection Unit: Policy notes

ABSTRACT

@#A survey done by the World Health Organization in 2014 revealed that only less than 10% of the survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) received any service—whether it be health, psychosocial, police, or legal.1 In Kenya and Haiti, only 13.4% of the girls and only 7% of the boys who experienced sexual abuse received health services, while in Swaziland, 24% of clients received health services.1 2 3 In several countries, one-stop centers were established to provide legal, medical and psychosocial services for survivors of child sexual abuse and violence in one location. These centers spare clients from visiting multiple institutions to seek help and from the trauma of retelling their personal ordeal to various individuals many times over.4 Psychosocial support is given by a social worker who assesses the client on the first interview. If the social worker detects any signs of abuse, the client is then escorted to an adjacent room where a child-friendly police officer would take care of the legal aspects of the case. A medical doctor performs a thorough physical examination in a separate room. Further special diagnostics and treatment are provided by the center. The staff of the centers must also have undergone appropriate training on the medicolegal aspects of handling clients who come to the center.5 In the Philippines, the establishment, operation, and maintenance of a Women and Children Protection Unit (WCPU) was based on the Administrative Order 1-B s. 1997 of the Department of Health (DOH)6 and the Republic Act 9262 Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) Act of 2004 and its implementing rules and regulations.7 In 2008, the DOH then developed a set of standards for the structures and processes of WCPUs in the country.8