The BBC on Monday cited a recent study about child abuse surging in the Philippines during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic as disturbing evidence of a problem that may have metastasized around the world.
The study was prepared by Save the Children and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF has previously reported on the “high prevalence of physical, psychological, sexual, and online violence committed on Filipino children.”
The trend appears to have grown steadily worse over the past decade and took an especially alarming turn during the pandemic. UNICEF noted the age of consent in the Philippines is only 12, one of the lowest in the world, and parts of the Philippines have experienced natural disasters and bouts of armed conflict that make children “more vulnerable to violence, trafficking, and stress.”
In July 2021, UNICEF said the Philippines “has…
