DEPUTY Speaker and Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar is seeking an inquiry into the proliferation of online child sexual abuse as the Philippines is the “top producer” of child pornography in the world.

In filing House Resolution (HR) 453, Villar said online abuse has become prevalent, especially during the pandemic, and this form of abuse is one of the most pressing issues today.

“There is a need to protect children from different types of online abuses, especially since the pandemic has had a profound impact on the way children use the Internet as they [spend] more time online,” Villar said, adding that abuse on the Internet “worsened” during the pandemic.

As early as 2016, the Philippines was named the “global epicenter” of the live-stream sexual abuse trade.

The country also ranks second in cybercrime vulnerability which exposes greater risks to minors and children, who are the most vulnerable as they spend most of their time online.

Six out of ten children between the ages of eight and ten were exposed to cyber risks such as phishing, hacking, cyberbullying, and even sexual exploitation, which had been attributed to the wide and easy access to smartphones and tablets, even at an early age.

There have been reports that even parents or close relatives are traffickers of their own children. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, 20% of Internet-using children aged 12 to 17 in the Philippines were victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse, which includes being blackmailed to engage in sexual activities, someone sharing their sexual images without their permission, or being coerced to engage in sexual activities through promises of money or gifts.

In a separate report by the justice department, online child sexual exploitation nearly tripled during the quarantine, with 279,166 reported incidents from March 1 t o May 24, 2020, compared with 76,561 cases logged during the same period in 2019.

There was also an exponential increase in cyber tip reports—or those which are not actually confirmed cases—to 2.8 million cases in 2021, from 1.2 million in 2020 and about 400,000 in 2019.

“Online sexual exploitation of children, which includes child pornography and abuse, is one of [the] gravest and most alarming forms of human trafficking that is happening in the Philippines,” said Villar.

Children who experience abuse often do not understand what was done to them was a form of abuse, and it is crucial to make them understand that such acts are illegal that may bring them trauma, Villar said.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco