'I was afraid to be rejected if I spoke up,' says childhood abuse victim in the Philippines

Synopsis: The Invisible Asia Podcast is a special edition series in which The Straits Times casts the spotlight on people and communities living in the shadows of their societies where they exist largely unseen and unheard of. Do follow all nine episodes of Invisible Asia over the next two months on The Straits Times podcast channel on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Google podcasts.

The Straits Times' Philippines correspondent Raul Dancel casts the spotlight on sexual abuse and domestic violence against vulnerable children in the Philippines. He speaks with Filipino Erick Reyes, 44, on his early experience with abuse, which left him fighting his demons well into his adulthood.

Professor Zenaida Rosales, executive director of the Centre for Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse in the Philippines, also discusses deep-seated issues related to child abuse. Our series' narrator is Tan Jia Ning.

1. Erick and his siblings view their violent and often-absent father with fear, loathing and anger (0:49)
2. Five-year-old Erick is sexually abused by an older boy and left feeling hurt, guilty and confused (2:30)
3. At age 12, he decides to enrol in a seminary to escape his "demons" (4:39)
4. Dropping out of the seminary (6:33)
5. Why sexually abused boys seldom report or discuss their experiences in the Philippines, where the crime of rape applies only to women (8:00)
6. Erick finds understanding, catharsis and healing in a group similarly trying to reconcile their gender preferences with their religious faith (11:24)
7. Erick speaks out to prevent more voiceless young people from going through the same painful journey he did as a youth (12:26)

Read the full story by Raul Dancel: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/i-was-afraid-id-be-rejected-if-i-told-people-of-my-abuse

Produced by: Magdalene Fung, Tan Jia Ning, Ernest Luis & Adam Azlee

Edited by: Adam Azlee

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