Recognising Women's Strengths

Get to know four life-changing organisations aligned to giving women encouragement and support

- Kristina Isabel Oviedo

In a predominantly male-led society, these foundations make a massive difference as they brave the recurring issues women worldwide have been dealing with for centuries.

CHILD PROTECTION NETWORK

The Child Protection Network, or CPN, is known for its expertise in treating and preventing child abuse. It plays a vital role in building Women and Children Protection Units (WCPUs). In this haven, victims of abuse can seek medical intervention and achieve recovery from both trauma and stigma. For years, these WCPUs have served as a safe space armed with a competent, compassionate, non-threatening medical and psychosocial staff. With support from different organisations, establishing at least one (1) Women and Children Protection Unit (WCPU) in all provinces of the country can be attained. There are currently 115 WCPUs in 59 areas and ten independent cities, and more than 98,000 children and adolescents have been served.

CPN uses the Women and Children Protection Management Information System (WCPMIS), a software designed to reflect a case management process that can generate data on cases of abuse. The WCPMIS is a crucial instrument to CPN's programmes in identifying the challenges and improvements to be made within WCPU's services.

According to executive director Dr Bernadette Madrid, in the next three years, CPN aims to accomplish its goal of establishing at least one WCPU in every province.

"Do not believe what you see and hear in social media. Verify from trustworthy organisations with a track record or ask real experts, not pseudo-experts. Most cases of online child sexual abuse we see are because the young person trusted the perpetrator and believed what he said," hints Madrid for the youth. Visit childprotectionnetwork.org or call +63915.780.7884 and +63968.295.7977.

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