Several young girls in chaos-stricken Marawi City are asking for privacy in evacuation centers to hamper the possibilities of abuse, according to an ABS-CBN News report.
Aside from the lack of clothing and footwear, 12-year-old Jaminah Macadato is also requesting for privacy for young girls, but in a place torn apart by war, Jaminah doesn’t know if her request will be granted.
“Iniisip ko ‘pag natutulog ako na gusto ko walang nakatingin sa akin kasi nakakahiya, lalo na kapag may lalaki,’‘ she said.
(I think when I’m sleeping I don’t want anyone looking at me because it’s embarrassing, especially if there are men.)
”Sa mga Maranao, and’yan talaga ang pagiging conservative, dapat sana hindi nagkakahalo ang babae at lalaki, pero ‘yun nga, kulang ang space, kaya tiis muna,” said Asliah Linga, a staff of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 10.
(With the Maranaos, they’re really conservative. Ideally, men and women won’t be together, but we don’t have enough space, so we’ll just have to take this for now.)
Anisah Bongcarawan, a mom of seven who just gave birth to her eighth child on Monday, admitted she hasn’t completely recovered from childbirth just yet, but she went back to the evacution center after giving birth because she needs to take care of the rest of her children. She’s thankful for the Maria Cristina evacuation center in Iligan City for the free medicine and the mother-and-child space where they are taught how to care for their children and proper breastfeeding.
There are currently 811 families or roughly 4,000 individuals at the said evacuation center, according to DSWD Region 10.
The DSWD is ensuring the security of the evacuees, especially when it comes to possible abuse on women. They are also conducting psychosocial debriefings to help those traumatized by the war.
“May 24-hour police, so far wala pa naman reported na abuses, may nagroronda rin na pulis sa labas,” ani Linga.
(There’s a 24-hour police, so far we haven’t gotten any reported abuses. The police also makes rounds outside the evacuation center.)
