HISTORY OF CHILD ABUSE In many third world countries, violence against children continuos to be a pressing problems.

Such violence is often manifested in the form of abuse. The Philippines is similar to many other Asian countries in the way Western culture has greatly influenced its development and way of life. The Philippines historical roots began with Spanish colonization four centuries ago. This colonization contributed to the development of a culture in which the church and the school usually emerge as the most influential institutions influencing the way children are brought up. Cases of physical and sexual abuse, as well as those considered abuse of neglect continue to be a major societal concern. Thus, violence in school as well as other institutional sectors of society that play a role in a childs development is a global proportions faced by most developed and developing countries. Despite the increasing global awareness of childrens rights, there continuos to be numerous cases of child abuse in many countries. In the Philippines, there are approximately 33 million children under the age of eighteen and authorities estimate that in 1999 alone, there were roughly 12, 000 cases of child abuse. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) documented an increase in cases of child abuse and neglect from 1991 to 1997. Of these cases 44.5% were classified as sexual abuse, 21.67% as physical abuse, and 15.07% as neglect. The Philippine General Hospital Child Protection Unit (PGH-CPU) also reported a similar trend during the same year in which 67.7% of the cases they handled were documented as child abuse cases. While the statistics suggest that the majority of the alleged perpetrators of abuse are familiar to the victims of child abuse, 66% of abusers are family members, the statistics fail to reflect the abuse occurring in the Philippine institutions of the school and the church. Abuse in this institutions is difficult to measure for many reasons. Because of the esteem schools and the church hold in the Philippine society, cultural factors prevent the child abuse authorities from recognizing and addressing abuse occurring in the schools and church. The view of the child in Philippine society causes institutions and authorities to overlook and oftentimes encourage child abuse. Philippine authorities and institutions lack a clearly defined definitions of child abuse, especially in regards to verbal and psychological abuse. In conjunction with the Philippine view of a child, institutions remain focused on violence committed by children as opposed for the violence committed by educators and clergy members. Much attention had been paid to child abuse occurring in the families; however, with the considerable power and trust afforded to schools and the church, abuse often remains overlooked or under-examined. Research indicates that physical abuse cases may be underreported, and, therefore, the statistics fail to depict the actual incidences of abuse in communities. This underreporting may reflect a belief that only the most extreme forms of abuse necessitate intervention by the authorities. Thus, the home becomes overemphasized as the location where most abuse occurs. Numerous studies, articles and books, explore and validate the dominance of family situation in the experience of the abuse. A study conducted by the Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program of the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development studies (UP-CIDS) stated that while both parents and child group generally situated abuse in the context of parental discipline, some important differences existed.

First, parents held more normative views abuse and describe it as a deviation from appropriate discipline. These parents perceive abuse as a manifestation of the abuse of parental authority and the taking advantage of the childs relatively inferior position in the family. Children viewed abuse less in terms of power, but rather as betrayal of trust. Children believed disciplinary measures became abusive when the discipline became excessive, intentional and unreasonable.