The share of women and girls in the Philippines who were victims of sexual abuse from their current or former intimate partner declined from 2.2 percent in 2017 to 1.3 percent in 2022. The largest share of women who were victims of physical violence were those who were separated or widowed.

The number of girls surviving physical, sexual, and psychological violence assisted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Philippines significantly declined between 2018 and 2022. From 505, this number dropped to 394. In both years, the majority of them were victim-survivors of sexual abuse.

According to a 2022 survey, about 30 percent of women who were divorced/separated/widowed said that they experienced physical violence. In comparison, seven percent of women who never had an intimate partner claimed to have experienced any form of abuse.

In 2023, the number of cases of violence against women and children reported in the Philippines reached about 7.760, indicating a decrease from the previous year. These incidents were reported in connection to the Anti-violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 which seeks to address the prevalence of violence against women and children by their intimate partners.

This study aimed to investigate adolescent's cognitive processes and their thoughts and feelings when answering the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool - ICAST-C.

This study used face-to-face semi-structured cognitive interviews, employing a combination of think aloud, structured and spontaneous verbal probing, and observations.

The sample in this study consisted of 53 adolescents aged 10-17 years across three contexts. Interviews were conducted with 17 participants in Romania, 20 participants in South Africa, and 16 participants in the Philippines. This study adopted a purposive sampling strategy. In addition to purposive sampling, this study employed maximum variation sampling. Maximum variation sampling is an appropriate strategy when the study aims to understand the variability of views existing in a particular group. Geographical and cultural variation, as well as variation in age, gender, and previous research exposure, were considerations in implementing this strategy.

Both research-exposed (those who had answered a self-report violence measure) and research non-exposed (those who had not answered a self-report violence measure) participants were recruited. Apart from these considerations, participants were recruited on the basis of age (those aged between 10-17 years) and gender (male, female, and other gender identities).

Globally, 95 million children become victims of physical, emotional and sexual child abuse every year. Child abuse has lifetime impacts including medical trauma, mental health distress, illness, school drop-out and unemployment. We know there is also a cycle of violence across generations. In other words, victims of child abuse are more likely to commit violent crime and to abuse their own children. They are also more likely to become a victim of violence again, both in childhood and in their adult relationships. Child abuse also has a hidden but massive impact on society because of illness and disability, costing an estimated 124 billion USD a year in the United States. But why do child abuse rates remain so inexplicably high? Child abuse is a complex problem that reaches across the home and community. In order to combat child abuse, we need to understand how many children are affected, where they are and who is most at risk. Then we need effective interventions to prevent and reduce child abuse. However, we know very little about either. A small number of high-income countries have social services data but these only identify the tip of the iceberg; most child abuse is never reported to services. To detect abuse within the whole population, we need to conduct surveys. That being said, the only child abuse measures available are lengthy and detailed, and they are therefore costly to carry out nationally. If a short child abuse measure existed, it could be included in larger, regularly conducted surveys (e.g. Demographic and Health Surveys or census). Interventions aim to prevent and reduce abuse, but there is currently no child abuse measure that can test whether such interventions have worked. A measure needs to be designed to detect changes in how severe and how often abusive behaviours occur. At the moment, researchers often use proxy measures for abuse, such as parenting stress. This study has two aims: (1) to develop a brief child abuse measure for the inclusion in large surveys, and (2) to test and validate a sensitive child abuse measure for use in intervention evaluation research. These will then be made available, together with a user manual, at no cost. To combat child abuse, we need strong collaborations between research and policy. I have already established strong partnerships with a number of academic institutions and international organisations in child protection. I have developed a prototype of the measure for intervention testing, and this is being used in six studies with 3800 participants in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Philippines. My collaborators will share the data, allowing me to conduct statistical analysis on how and whether the measure works. I will also conduct analyses testing whether the tool measures the same concepts across cultures. Finally, I will carry out qualitative research with key stakeholders in child protection to find the best questions for the short child abuse measure. To complement this, I will use statistical techniques on the pooled dataset to identify questions that can be used in surveys. This project can have a large impact on global child abuse prevention efforts. It will help researchers and policy-makers to measure accurately the number of children affected and determine whether interventions really work. It is an essential step in creating high quality evidence for protecting the world's children.

The number of women survivors of physical, sexual, and psychological violence assisted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Philippines significantly declined between 2018 and 2022. From 849, this number dropped to 241. In both years, the majority of them were women victim-survivors of psychological abuse.

According to a 2022 survey, about 36 percent of women who experienced physical violence identified their current husband/intimate partner as the perpetrator. This was followed by about 34 percent of women who identified their former husband or intimate partner as the perpetrator of physical abuse. In contrast, none of the women surveyed identified their children, father-in-law, teacher, or police/soldier as perpetrators.

According to a 2022 survey, 15.2 percent of women between the age of 30 and 39 have experienced any type of physical violence. Across regions, the Davao region held the highest share of violence.

According to a 2022 survey, women in the Davao Region or Region 11 accounted for the highest share of women who were victims of physical violence. In contrast, women in BARMM registered the lower share of women who experienced abuse.

In 2023, the number of victims of rape in the Philippines reached about 8,400, reflecting a significant decrease from the peak value in 2022. The volume of crime in the country increased overall in 2023.

According to a 2022 survey, more than half of women who experienced both physical and sexual violence sought help from their own family. In contrast, less than one percent of them sought a lawyer for help.

In 2020, nearly 5,000 cases of maltreatment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) had been reported, the majority of which came from the Middle East with 4,302 cases. About 560 thousand overseas workers were deployed from the Philippines in that year.

According to a 2022 survey, about 18 percent of women who experienced physical violence were in grades one to six. In comparison, nine percent of women who experienced abuse were in postsecondary education.

In 2024, about 12,000 cases of theft were reported in the Philippines. This was the highest volume of focus crimes recorded in the country in that year alone. Focus crimes are considered severe crimes occurring with sufficient frequency and regularity. State of focus crimes The volume of focus crimes that were reported in the Philippines has gradually decreased between 2017 and 2024. Index crimes are those considered serious in nature and occurring with sufficient frequency and regularity that they are considered an index to the crime situation in a given area. This includes murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft and carnapping. Meanwhile, non-index crimes are crimes in violation of special laws. Other focus crimes Aside from theft, the Philippines recorded a high volume of rape cases in 2024. While the number of rape cases has shown a significant decline between 2023 and 2024, the volume of such cases remains alarming. In addition, cases of domestic violence and the prevalence of online sexual assault, especially involving children, are also some of the most alarming crimes in the Philippines today.

As of September 2023, about 30,200 crime incidents were recorded in the Philippines. Across regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) recorded the highest number of crime incidents followed by Region 4-A. Crime incidents include both focus and non-focus crimes.

According to a global study conducted between 2020 and 2022, a total of 13.1 million pieces of website content were reported in India in the measured period for containing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). Around seven million pieces of such content were reported in the Philippines, while 5.3 million were reported in Pakistan.

In 2021, there were about 41.5 thousand reported cases involving illegal drugs in the Philippines, majority of which were reported by the National Capital Region's (NCR) regional police office. Reported cases of illegal drugs in the region reached around 12.4 thousand.