For years, the age to determine statutory rape in the Philippines has been the lowest in Asia and one of the lowest in the world. The passage of Republic Act 116481 or an act “providing for stronger protection against rape and sexual exploitation and abuse, increasing the age for determining the commission of statutory rape” responds not only to the Philippines’ obligation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, but most importantly, to the call for stronger protection for victim-survivors of sexual violence.
