EDITORIAL - Parents exploiting children

A woman was arrested recently by the National Bureau of Investigation for online sexual trafficking of her own children, aged eight and 10. The NBI said the woman herself used to sell herself for online sex, but agreed to some clients’ request to abuse the minors, for fees ranging from $50 to $100.

Blurred video footage showed the woman weeping as she said financial need prompted her to push her children to online sexual abuse. She faces criminal charges and she has been separated from her children.

The tragic story is unfortunately not uncommon in this country. A study conducted by the Philippine General Hospital’s Child Protection Unit showed that family members have replaced organized crime rings as the top recruiters in the sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines.

Family members mostly women along with caregivers within the home, the PGH-CPU said, have become the top perpetrators or recruiters in the online commercial sexual exploitation of children, accounting for 51 percent of the case studies.

Evolving technology such as livestreaming applications have made it harder to detect the crimes, especially since they are perpetrated at home, the study noted.

“Victims are becoming younger, with a growing number aged between five and 12 years being exploited for as little as P20,” the study reported.

The prevalence of online sexual abuse or exploitation of children has led to the passage of two laws against OSAEC. The laws hold even social media platforms and payment system providers accountable for the crime.

Yet enforcement has been difficult and the problem persists, driven by poverty and facilitated by digital technology and ordinary Filipinos’ grasp of English, the language used by many OSAEC clients.

Child welfare advocates have called for a whole-of-nation approach to the problem, involving schools, law enforcement, local governments, civic and religious groups and the community itself in preventing and detecting possible cases of sexual abuse of children.

The problem underpins the sexual education program in schools, but the controversy this has generated shows the complexity of addressing child sexual abuse.

The PGH-CPU study, however, along with the numerous arrests carried out by the NBI and police involving parents themselves trafficking their children for sex, should give urgency to implementing measures that will save youths from being scarred for life.