As the Philippines joins in the celebration of World Children’s Day on Sunday, November 20, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the government to sustain the momentum of its crackdown on online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).
Gatchalian said the government is now better equipped to combat OSAEC as well as other forms of child trafficking and abuse, with the passage into law of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022 (Republic Act No. 11862) and the Anti-Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM) Act (Republic Act No. 11930).
“Bahagi ng pagtataguyod natin sa kaligtasan at kapakanan ng mga kabataan ang pagtiyak sa kaligtasan ng internet, lalo na’t ginagamit ito para sa iba’t ibang uri ng karahasan at pang-aabuso (Part of our promotion of the safety and well-being of young people is ensuring the safety of the internet, especially when it is used for various types of violence and abuse)," Gatchalian said.
"Nitong mga nakaraang buwan ay naipasa natin ang mga mahahalagang batas upang paigtingin ang pagsugpo sa pang-aabuso sa ating mga kabataan gamit ang internet, (In recent months we have passed important laws to intensify the suppression of the abuse of our youth using the internet)," he further said.
A study entitled “Disrupting Harm in the Philippines: Evidence on online child sexual exploitation and abuse" showed that 20 percent of internet-using children aged 12-17 were victims of grave instances of online sexual exploitation and abuse during the past year.
The same study surveyed 950 children. When these findings are scaled to the population, up to 2 million children were subjected to these harms last year.
Some of the victims' experiences include being blackmailed to engage in sexual activities or being coerced to engage in sexual activities through promises of money and gifts.
Gatchalian also recalled how the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in increasing the children’s exposure to OSAEC.
This, he was was reflected in a Department of Justice (DOJ) report In 2021, saying that it has received more than 2.8 million reports on online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC).
This is more than twice the nearly 1.3 million reports for 2020. For last year, the DOJ also said it launched official investigations on 268 OSEC cases, almost four times the 73 cases handled in 2020.