HOME is where a child must feel safe and loved by parents and carers.
For thousands of children living in deprived areas, however, their small and dingy bedrooms are turned into hidden crime scenes where they are coerced to strip, dance naked and perform sexual acts in front of a web camera as sex predators from abroad pay to watch.
Parents and family members usually act as crime facilitators of the rising cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
The Philippines is now the top global source of child-sex abuse and exploitation materials, with more cases of live streaming of child sex abuse that continue to surface in recent years.
Poverty, ease of access to the Internet and mobile phones and the dominant English-speaking population are top reasons for the increase in cases of sexual abuse and exploitation against minors.
In 2017, the Office of Cybercrime of the Department of Justice (DOJ) received 45,645 tip-offs about sexual images of Filipino children from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NMEC). The number ballooned to 600,000 last year.
New technologies, such as live streaming, are contributing to rising incidents of cybercrime in the Philippines, an alarming 80 percent of which is online sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
Children who are most vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation are those with disability, members of LGBTQI, as well as those displaced by armed conflict and natural disasters and living in deprived situations.
The Australian Embassy in the Philippines along with leading child rights organizations—the United Nations Children’s Fund or Unicef, Save the Children Philippines and Asia Foundation—recently launched SaferkidsPH, a six-year program that seeks to reduce cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines.
The SaferKidsPH campaign, with an A$8-million (P298 million) grant, engages the government, nongovernment agencies, special task forces and committees, civil society, communities and schools, the private sector, media and other like-minded donors to support and be part of innovative and sustainable solutions.
“Online sexual exploitation and abuse of children is a crime that transcends territorial jurisdictions. The SaferKidsPH campaign aims to bring more light to this issue,” said Australian Ambassador Steven J. Robinson AO.
He said the SaferkidsPH program aims to increase public awareness of the risks of online sexual exploitation of children and involve children, parents, schools, private sector, civil society and media to promote online child safety and to prevent and respond to online sexual exploitation of children.
At the same time, the program partners with the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to strengthen investigation, prosecution and adjudication of cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in line with national legislation.
The program will prioritize deprived areas in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Metro Manila that were identified as hot spots in sexual abuse and exploitation on children due to strong Internet connection and large number of poor communities.
Lawyer Albert Muyot, chief executive officer of Save the Children Philippines, said there is no truth to the belief of many parents that live streaming minors while performing sexual acts does not cause harm since there is no physical contact with their children.
He said the impact of sexual abuse and exploitation on children is lifelong and devastating. When these children become adults, they will have difficulty forming relationships, get drawn into sex work or even become abusers themselves, he said.
“Online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) violates children’s right to protection,” said Muyot. “We believe that strengthening child-protection systems is crucial in addressing the problem that has been affecting children, mostly in deprived situations.
“We are committed to working with local government units and civil society actors to ensure that there are policies, programs, services, budgets and school- and community-based child protection mechanisms in place to address OSAEC. We will also strengthen our work with children, their families and teachers to raise their awareness on this issue, and mobilize them to help protect children in communities and schools,” he added.
Oyunsaihan Dendevnorov, Unicef representative, highlighted the need to engage concerned agencies along with children, parents, schools and communities to stop the violation of children’s rights.
“SaferKidsPH is calling on the public to engage. Get to know the issue, join the discourse, report, support, and be part of this movement demanding safety and protection for every child in all the spaces they are in, online and offline,” she added.
Sam Chittick, country representative of The Asia Foundation, said the organization stands ready to help push the domestic initiative by providing assistance to the justice sector, the Philippine National Police and investigating authorities.
Online sexual abuse and exploitation of children is a global menace that needs the cooperation of governments of countries with the most number of sex predators, including Australia.
The consortium believes that the advancement in technology may provide easier access to information and communication, but gives child abuse perpetrators a platform to abuse and exploit our children online.
The US Department of Justice reports that an aggregate 1.9 million users are registered across nine sites dedicated to child sexual abuse materials.
The Global Threat Assessment showed that the Virtual Private Network (VPN) usage continues to grow, especially in technologically advanced countries.
One of the fastest growing among VPN is the Darknet/TOR usage whose users grew to 4 million in 2018 from 1 million in 2013.
Sex predators prey not only on children, but worse, on babies and toddlers. The consortium said that one dark-net service dedicated to infant/toddler abuse has over 18,000 registered members.
Save the Children Philippines believes the culture of silence surrounding the issue of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines is caused by communities tolerating the hidden crime as an acceptable way to earn money.
It takes a village to raise a child. The community should provide a safe environment for every child to grow healthy and educated and safe from all forms of violence to achieve full potential.
Image credits: MRECO99 | Dreamstime.com, Save the Children Philippines