The coronavirus has spared the children, but a hidden and creeping pandemic may not.
While the government-imposed lockdowns have kept people safe from the virus, it has unintentionally facilitated a dramatic rise in one of the most heinous forms of modern human trafficking: online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). It is a horrific crime where minors are sexually abused through photos, videos, and even livestreaming of sexual acts—and we need to have conversations about it.
Even before COVID-19, the Philippines has been identified as a global hotspot of OSEC. The high English proficiency, decent internet connection, sufficient levels of smartphone penetration, and an established network of cash remittance centers have become perfect ingredients for online child sex offenders to target vulnerable children in the country. The pandemic has restricted the movement of perpetrators, causing them to turn to the web, and has locked down vulnerable children at home, usually with their traffickers who are hard-pressed to earn money. Less interaction with the community also cut off means for victims to seek help, or for child rights advocates to observe and report suspected cases. In the first months of the pandemic, Philippine authorities recorded an alarming 265% increase in reported OSEC cases.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of OSEC in the Philippines is that it is a “family-run business”. International organization International Justice Mission (IJM) has reported that 83 percent of abuses were facilitated by people related to the child, 41 percent of which were done by biological parents. The median age of the victim is 11 years old, but there have been cases that children as young as 2 months old have been subjected to abuse. Other reports note that children are given $3 per ‘show’.
The Philippine government and child rights advocates have made important steps towards combatting OSEC through innovative solutions and cross-cutting policy mechanisms. The Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC) was established in 2019, a result of cooperation among domestic and international law enforcement agencies, and with international organizations. Last month, the Philippine Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and international partners hosted a global conference to foster cooperation to address the rising OSEC cases during COVID-19. IJM has also called on tech companies to continue to innovate so technology solutions can detect new forms of OSEC material and livestreams.
While government and NGOs continue to pursue various measures, there are things we can do to help fight the battles on the ground. One thing we can focus on is raising awareness among parents to increase vigilance and lay the foundations to protect the future generation against lurking perpetrators. The numbers may be disturbing and would lead to uncomfortable conversations due to the reluctance of parents to discuss a sensitive topic, but we need to be reminded that there is one innocent life behind every statistic. Opening eyes and informing people of this horrendous phenomenon is a step towards protecting a child.
On a larger scale, several groups have started informing children about the dangers of the internet and online means of sexual abuse. Sex education has also been part of the educational curriculum.
It equips the child with the basics to discern when they are in danger, especially if their protective environment (parents or guardians) is the immediate threat to their safety. However, the duty of protecting themselves should not rest on the children alone. We can enlighten more adults to join the cause.
More than the children, there is a generation of parents who have not been educated on sex and sexual abuse. There is an understanding among traffickers that “no touch, no harm” is a valid argument. Parents who peddle their kids have a mindset that webcam livestreaming is not abuse because “the perpetrator isn’t touching the children”. This is just an example of a dangerous misconception that we need to shatter.
We should consider parents and guardians as frontliners in our fight against OSEC. Not equipping them with the right mindset and awareness is the difference from them being the defenders, to them becoming the enablers of abuse. These are necessary, while admittedly difficult, conversations given that topic of sex is still considered taboo in a predominantly Catholic country like the Philippines.
As a policy measure, the government need not to reinvent the wheel in order get the conversations going. An OSEC education campaign targeting parents can be designed as a ‘rider’ towards existing programs. Public school orientations for parents are held at the start of the school year, and an hour of discussion on OSEC can go a long way in protecting the children.
Another idea is folding it into the conditional cash transfer program of the government. The program covers 4.3 million poor households, and requires parents to meet health, nutrition, and education conditions before the release of a cash subsidy. Including an information and education module on OSEC for parents of poor families can help in breaking the supply chain of abuse. In addition, providing them with incentives to report and training them with the skills to handle referrals and suspected cases creates a community of watchers and child protectors.
As we are battling the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiologists estimate that we need to vaccinate around 70% of the population to have herd immunity. We should strive to do the same in combatting the pandemic of OSEC. We need to continue to have discussions no matter how difficult they are to initiate, stop considering sex as a taboo topic, and start effective communication towards parents. If blank stares, unavoidable cringes, and awkward silences are the price we need to pay to raise awareness and help save one child, let’s do it—one conversation at a time.
This entry received 1st prize in an op-ed competition by Bridging GAP (Gender and Policy), a student group at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy which aims to enhance awareness of the importance of gender among public policy students.
Photo by Charlein Gracia on Unsplash