Activist Benedictine nun Mary John Mananzan expressed dismay over the continuing incidents of violence against women and children in the country, including the recent phenomenon of “online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.”
“I want to call your attention on it because the Unicef has said that the Philippines is the vortex, is the center of this [phenomenon],” said the nun in an online forum ahead of the observance of International Women’s Day on March 7.
She said that online sex abuse and exploitation of women is a “new part of our struggle,” adding that everyone should “take part in this struggle against this cybercrime.”
“I would like to ask everybody … to really pay attention to this (because it) is happening in your neighborhood and really make an effort to fight it,” said Sister Mary John.
The Philippines has consistently topped the world in social media and internet usage, exposing children to various content that result in abuse and exploitation.
The Unicef tagged the Philippines as the “global epicenter of live-stream sexual abuse trade.”
The country emerged as the “center of child sex abuse materials production in the world, with 80% of Filipino children vulnerable to online sexual abuse, some facilitated even by their own parents.”
Unicef defines online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, or OSAEC, as any act of exploitative nature carried out against any child with the use of an electronic device or any medium that can connect to the internet at any point of the abuse.
It includes manipulating or threatening a child into performing sexual acts in front of a webcam, grooming victims online, distributing, importing, exporting, or selling child sexual exploitation, and knowingly obtaining access to child sexual exploitation material online even if the abuse depicted in the material was carried out offline.
The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 refers to the use of an electronic medium, such as a computer, to conduct online communication and transactions that victimizes vulnerable children.
The US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has earlier reported a 209% increase in the cyber tip reports from the Philippines from January to December 2020 compared to 2019.
In 2020, the Anti Money Laundering Council reported 156% increase in the suspicious transaction lined to child sexual abuse and exploitation valued at 113 million from 2019 to the first half of 2020.
The Department of Justice has seen a 264.63% increase in reports of online sexual exploitation of children connected to the Philippines from March to May 2020, a period that coincides with stay-at-home measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
