TO HELP uplift the plight of women and children, Kalinga Partylist Rep. Irene Gay Saulog filed a bill that seeks to establish Development and Crisis Assistance Centers for Women and Children in every province and city.

House Bill 3081 seeks to amend Republic Act 8505 or the Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998.

“The bill aims to uplift the condition of the women and children, particularly those who were victims of abuse,” the lawmaker said in her explanatory note.

The bill mandates the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Health, Interior and Local Government and Justice and a non-government organization with proven track record in handling sexual abuse cases to establish in every province and city a Resource Development and Crisis Assistance Centers for Women and Children.

An Inter-Agency Council shall also be convened to set the criteria for the selection of the sites of the centers.

Under the bill, the centers shall serve as the venue for consciousness-raising, capability-building and functional literacy enhancement programs.

They will also undertake programs geared towards the development of maternal and child health care, self-enhancement and the development of skills for livelihood generation and social communication.

The centers will also provide temporary shelter to abused women and their children as well as psychological counseling and medical services.