Innocence for Sale

For some children, a normal school day follows routine: breakfast, bath, dress up, and a 15-minute check of things before setting out for school. At least 1 in 5 Filipino children, however, see 15 minutes altogether a different thing: undressing in front of a camera in exchange for cash.

The surge of cases of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in the Philippines has led the United Nations Children’s Fund to identify the country as the “global epicenter of the live-stream sexual abuse trade”—a fact still relatively unknown to most Filipinos.

In 2018 alone, the Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime reported child sexual abuse materials—photos, videos, and livestreams—shared and sold, amounting to 600,000. Even this number comes mostly from tip-offs from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, telling of an inaccurate portrait reliant on data from international NGOs and advocacy groups.

“OSEC actually refers to the online-offline sexual abuse and exploitation of children,” explained Nenita Dalde of the Child Rights Network (CRN) Philippines. She noted that, although contacts may begin online, they may extend to offline transactions, making tracking a tall order.

To further complicate the picture, OSEC exists at the nexus of problems generated by poverty. This crime operates fluidly in a country where many are poor amid an economy unable to empower them and tied to foreign demands.

Interestingly, too, the internet remains easily accessible—the Philippines topped the global internet use list in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, children are prone to spending more time online, making them easier targets for child predators.

In the series “Stolen,” reporters from Rappler documented the stories of survivors of sexual violence. One victim recalled the case of a foreigner who livestreamed the abuse of minors using ropes and sex toys.

"For years, my rape defined me," she said, "I spent more energy running from it than I did living."

There are not enough pages in the world to describe what that violation did to people. The whole planet could be their inkstand and it still wouldn’t be enough. It cracked the planet inside them in half, threw them completely out of orbit, into the lightless regions of space where life is not possible.

It was not only the abuse but everything that followed it: the agony, the self-doubt, and the desperate need to keep it hidden. Rendered vulnerable to depression and social isolation, victims could carry these effects well into adulthood.

It sets off alarm that the rise in such cases outpaces strategic response and urgent intervention. Only 27 perpetrators of the 600,000 reports in 2018 were brought to law, said the Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Department of State. The government’s ineptitude is troubling because as something whose full extent has yet to be brought to light, OSEC can only be deterred if the government is willing to assist.

While legal measures against child abuse, exploitation, and pornography are in place, they prove insufficient in prosecuting OSEC perpetrators and delivering justice to victims. According to the CRN, existing laws fail to define OSEC and outline corresponding penalties.

Even without the current crisis, children are already at risk of being abused in the very confines of their home. The fight to safeguard children’s safety and wellbeing requires confronting the structural maladies that have long kept, and will continue to keep, children in the dark.

As bills like the House Bill 1373, which seeks stiffer penalties on perpetrators, find its way in congress, groups like the CRN should engage with experts from different fields so that these bills would be comprehensive and prompt others to mobilize support.

For all the breadth and scope of OSEC, legislative efforts must be offered vis-a-vis to curb poverty and deliver basic social services. Providing employment opportunities, for example, may help veer people away from profiting from OSEC.

Ultimately, the decisiveness of these strides may only be realized through the cooperation of different agencies to build a network of care and support. It may take a village to strip children of their dreams, yet it would also take a village, a strong and united one, to raise children who would be free to dream for their future.