UN Rapporteur Mama Singhateh meets DOJ officials on online sale, sexual abuse of children

United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children Mama Fatima Singhateh on Friday, Dec. 2, met with Department of Justice (DOJ) officials on concerns on online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).
DOJ Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV represented the department during a presentation in Cebu City.
Clavano said the meeting discussed the local mechanisms for OSAEC cases, how and where reports are made, and who the focal persons are.
He said the DOJ also presented awareness programs for these local mechanisms and the challenges faces in case build-up and in filing as well as in the prosecution of OSAEC cases.
Singahateh is in the Philippines until Dec. 8 “to assess the situation and the progress made in combating and preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children in the light of international human rights norms and standards.”
She is one of the three UN special rapporteurs who are coming to the country.
The other two are Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings (EJKs) Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz and Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion Irene Khan.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla had earlier said that, among the three, Tidball-Binz was invited to visit the country.
“Tayo na mismo nag-imbita on a third one on EJKs (We invited ourselves a third special rapporteur on EJKs). Why? Because we want to increase or do capacity building for our forensic pathologists in the country,” Remulla said.
He lamented that “right now we only have two licensed, legal, legitimate and actually internationally accepted forensic pathologist in our country.”
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