EDITORIAL - Child prostitutes

As prices of cellular phones and services fall, Filipinos are becoming increasingly connected. Soldiers in the jungles of Basilan can now get in touch with their families in nearby Zamboanga City. The use of mobile phones is expected to improve monitoring of the conduct of the elections on May 10. Falling prices of Internet services and the availability of affordable computers are also making the nation increasingly wired, further boosting the flow of information.

Every improvement, however, has its downside. In the case of information technology, one of the major concerns is the use of the Internet for child trafficking and prostitution. In countries such as Japan, cell phones, especially those with video displays, are also used for finding teenage prostitutes. A recent report by an international advocacy group said such practices have spread to other Asian countries including the Philippines.

ECPAT – acronym for End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes – said adults seek children for sex through Internet chat rooms and mobile phones. Governments and communities have not done enough to tackle the problem, ECPAT said in an annual report.

Law enforcement agencies will have to deal with this new threat to children. It will be an uphill battle. Law enforcers in many developing countries including the Philippines are just starting to learn how to use computers. Ferreting out hackers is challenging enough, often requiring the help of experts from high-tech countries particularly the United States.

Local law enforcers have had some success in stopping individuals or groups marketing sex tourism or offering child prostitutes in the Philippines through the Internet. Foreign pedophile rings that operate in the country through the Internet have also been busted. Yet the trafficking of children for sex and other forms of abuse continues to flourish with the help of technology. A bigger problem is posed by teenagers who themselves seek out customers through chat rooms or mobile phones.

Law enforcement agencies, already stretched thin trying to deal with terrorism and criminality, must field experts to stop another illicit activity. It won’t be easy, but the government will have to do its best.