Philippines - Epicentre of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children

photo credit: IJM.org

This is article has been copied with permission from Lauren Medlicott’s personal blog which can be found here.

Hi friends, 

This week, I want to share with you my findings on Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (Osec) in the Philippines. I became aware of the issue as I browsed International Justice Mission’s most recent updates. They recently released a HUGE study detailing their investigations, findings, and suggestions for tackling the issue in the Philippines. I will draw most of my information from this study, as nearly everything I read referred back to their crazy extensive study.  Hope it provides you an accurate, concise synopsis of what is currently happening. 

On July 30th, 2020, in Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines, a 25-year-old female was sentenced to a little over 17 months in prison for live streaming the sexual abuse of her young, female cousin (she abused her from age 11-13) for a paying sex offender. 

This case has become normal in the Philippines. Normal to put a child - even a child not yet 1 -  in front of camera so that she (as it is 86% girls) can undress and perform sexual acts either alone or often times, with another family member, for the keen eyes of some old, Western man who finds pleasure in the sexuality of vulnerable children. A man that used to get his kicks when we would travel to the Philippines for his sexual fulfilment, now gets his fantasies fulfilled from his comfortable living room, without the price of a plane ticket. And I say it’s just old men. Old men (well from 40-72) were the ages of consumers reported by IJM, but those figures don’t include dark web activity, which young men, who might be more tech savvy, use to avoid detection. For the price of $8, a child can give you a live “show”. EIGHT DOLLARS. I realise that most perpetrators are also victims. I get that these viewers are very broken people. But I cannot, I cannot, seem to get my head around how someone could watch a child across the world have sex in front of a dinky, video camera. But there are plenty who can as there are apparently 750,000 men seeking online sex with children at any given time of the day. I can’t understand how men do it, but there are plenty who do. 

Why the Philippines?

Let’s talk about why the Philippines is called the epicentre of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (remember I will mainly write Osec). Poverty is a key driver for Osec and many cities, towns, and villages in the Philippines are home poor populations. Around 1 in 3 people in Manila live in slums with makeshift houses. Families are desperate for money and ‘operators’ exploit this poverty to get children to attend their ‘shows’ for eager men all across the world. Shockingly, it is often family members who facilitate and encourage the abuses. According to IJM’s study, 41% of all victims had abuse facilitated by parents in the Philippines. And another 42% facilitated by other family members. A paediatrician, Dr. Merle Tan, who cares for children once they have been rescued states that  “People tell themselves it’s not abuse, because the perpetrator isn’t touching the children,” Dr. Tan says. “But the children are still being abused, and this harms their mental and physical development. As they grow up, they may have problems forming relationships, and can get further drawn into sex work, or even become abusers themselves.” Parents seem to only see that their young children are providing the next meal, without being aware of the current and lasting affect of the abuse. As a parent myself, I can’t imagine being in the position of choosing between feeding my family and making my child undress in front of a camera. Either way, you seem to feel you have failed as a parent. I can’t imagine that sort of poverty.

Sarah Norton-Staal, Chief of Child Protection at UNICEF Philippines, says other reasons include “increased Internet access and cheaper devices have brought poor communities online. The standard of English is very high and child sex offenders have been visiting since the 1970s. There’s a large Filipino diaspora that regularly sends money home from abroad. And there’s a culture of silence and deference to elders, which keeps abuse hidden.”

All these reasons, along with lack parental supervision and lack of resources to investigate and prosecute perpetrators are all reasons recognised as why the Philippines has become the ‘leader’ of numbers of Osec cases. 

How Bad?

Just how bad is the situation? In 2014, IJM’s study found that 23,333 IP addresses were linked to child sexual exploitation in the Philippines. In 2017, the numbers rose to 81,723. Nearly three times as many computers accessing Filipino children. 

Who are the children being exploited? They are children that play in the streets with their friends. Children that love to watch cartoons. Children that love sweets and chocolates. They are just children. But they are children that get called in by an adult to stand in front of a computer webcam. Children that are told to take off clothes. Children told to have sex. Children told to grab their brother to enhance viewing. The study found that the average age of the child being exploited in the Philippines was 11, most likely a girl. An 11-year-old-girl, who may have no idea what is happening to her at the time, but once she figures it out, will be forever traumatised by the sexual acts she had to perform. 

Just Get Justice!

Let’s talk about why Osec cases aren’t easy to catch. The Philippines sees this as a problem. The world sees this as a problem. But live-stream footage is very hard to detect by electronic service providers, apparently. So time and money are being invested to improve technology to catch the dark underworld of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children. 

COVID-19

With more children locked in, and more men locked in, and an increase in financial hardships, many are fearful of even more cases of Osec in the Philippines. 

It pained me to research this subject. I cried in my garden as my boys happily played without a care in the world. There are 1 in 5 Filipino children vulnerable to sexual exploitation. But I’m here. In Wales. With children that are relatively safe (although I am petrified of their future on the internet). And there is nothing I can do – except give money (unless of course, I had some amazing policing, investigative, medical, or lawyer skills). We can give money to people like IJM that are recognised for honestly putting your money to good use. It isn’t glamorous, but it is a contribution to the fight.

Thanks for reading. Until next time, Lauren.