Bernadette Madrid

Dr. Bernadette Madrid is the Director of the Child Protection Unit of the University of the Philippines Manila – Philippine General Hospital. There, she also serves as Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics. Dr Madrid is also the Executive Director of the Child Protection Network Foundation, which provides training to child protection workers and develops Women and Child Protection Units across the Philippines. She served on the Executive Council of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect from 2004-2010, and chaired its Asia Forum.  

Bernadette has advised the Philippines government and legislative committees on issues of health, social welfare, law enforcement and the judiciary. She is a member of the Department of Special Concerns  of the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, and serves on the Department of Justice’s Committee for the Special Protection of Children. Her research is frequently described as having influenced policies and practices in the Philippines. She has also supported the work as a consultant of UNICEF, WHO, UNESCAP & UNFPA. Dr Madrid is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, and was formerly president of the Philippine Ambulatory Pediatric Association.  

She is a focal person in the Violence Prevention Alliance and a member of the CPC Learning Network. She was also an active member of the Know Violence collaboration. As a researcher, she is the author of numerous peer reviewed articles on child protection and on the prevalence of violence against children in the Philippines and beyond, and she has worked to incorporate violence prevention into university curricula. She is also primary investigator of Safe Schools for Teens in the Philippines project, which aims to decrease peer sexual victimization and increase reporting of sexual abuse in schools. She is additionally a reviewer for leading academic journals.  

Her work has led to being awarded the following honors: The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service 2001; named one of the 5 Most Outstanding Philippine Doctors in 2004; Outstanding Women Leaders of the City of Manila 2009; Outstanding Service Award for Child Protective Services by the National Children’s Advocacy Center, Alabama, USA in 2012; The Outstanding Pediatrician 2021 by the Philippine Pediatric Society.