The extent of child sexual abuse

The government appears unable to stop the explosion of online child sexual abuse in the Philippines. For this reason, the country is now considered a global center for online child sexual abuse and exploitation. In its October 9, 2024 survey report, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) revealed that one in eight girls worldwide have experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18.

A previous Unicef ​​survey found that 7 million children in the Philippines are reported to be sexually and physically abused each year. This abuse occurs within families and communities. Thousands of children become victims of human trafficking. Local governments are complicit by issuing operating licenses to sex bars, clubs and hotels where trafficked minors are brought and sold for sex to customers, many of whom are foreigners. This is considered legal by government officials because the children have ID cards showing they are over 18 years old. The IDs are fake, but this is ignored.

The child abuse statistics are even more shocking when you add the number of children abused online to the total. According to Unicef, when online abuse victims are included, up to 650 million children – or one in five – in the world are victims of sexual abuse. Of course, the sexual violence they experienced would have a lifelong negative impact on them and their trauma would be permanent if they did not undergo deep healing therapy.

An ongoing trial in Bulacan has presented evidence that two parents earned hundreds of thousands of pesos by streaming live sex shows in which young children are abused for foreigners. These included a Swiss and a British man as well as other unknown people. Two aunts also allegedly took part in organizing sex shows in which they abused two boys and a girl. The parents are in prison, but the process has progressed very slowly for over two years. However, the two aunts have outwitted all efforts by the Bulacan police to arrest them. They and many other released child molesters pose a challenge to Philippine National Police Director General Rommel Marbil, who was appointed last April.

As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. once said, this case has shamed the Philippines because of widespread online child abuse that appears to go undetected by telecommunications companies. This is despite the passage of Republic Act 11930 or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (Anti-Osaec) Act in July 2022.

In the same year, the age of consent – ​​the age at which a person is considered competent to consent to sexual acts – was raised from 12 to 16 years. It was the lowest in the world; A shameful and shocking 12 years passed before it was raised. There was social acceptance; The state or the church did not protest. The law only changed when the number of women in Congress increased. Because of this change, any sexual act with a person under the age of 16 is considered statutory rape and is punishable by life imprisonment.

In the Bulacan case, online sexual abuse and exploitation was uncovered after international police discovered that child abuse was being streamed online. Swiss suspect Rene Grubenmann was tried and convicted in his country, but reportedly received a light suspended sentence and a fine. No compensation was awarded to the victims.

In its Oct. 9 report, Unicef ​​said that although most victims of sexual abuse are girls and young women, many boys and young men are also victims. The UN agency added that 240 to 310 million boys and men – about one in 11 – were raped or sexually abused in childhood.

“The scale of this human rights violation is overwhelming and difficult to measure due to stigma, measurement challenges and limited investment in data collection,” Unicef ​​said.

The report also found that while the Philippines has the highest number of online sexual abuse victims, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of child abuse victims: 79 million girls and women – 22 percent – ​​are affected. In East and Southeast Asia there are 75 million or 8 percent of the child population. In Central and South Asia, 73 million, or 9 percent, of girls and young women have been victims of rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In Europe and North America it is 68 million or 14 percent; in Latin America and the Caribbean, 45 million, or 18 percent; in North Africa and West Asia, 29 million or 15 percent; and in Oceania 6 million or 34 percent.

Unicef ​​also said one in four children were victims of abuse in “fragile environments” where they were at high risk. There are situations in which children are most at risk: migrants traveling with unaccompanied children, refugees living in camps, and children living in slums and overcrowded settlements. UNICEF director Catherine Russell described sexual violence against children as “a stain on our moral conscience”.

In the Philippines, after listening to a victim of sexual abuse and exploitation tell her story during a conference, President Marcos said: “As I listened to the young lady… I couldn’t help but shed a tear to reflect. “ [about reliving] the suffering she went through. And considering how many other children there are even while we’re here, [sitting] in that fancy hotel room while we ate our fancy meal – and continue to suffer the same fate as them.”

“And with those tears that I just shed came a deep sense of shame that we have not done enough to ensure that the Philippines is now considered the epicenter of… child sexual abuse and exploitation. And I’ll leave that to your imagination. And I imagine in some cases you can’t imagine what’s being done to these poor children, our poor children,” he added. “We have to do more.”

Arresting child abusers with outstanding warrants does more. There are around 20 of them in Zambales alone. We hope that they will be brought to justice and that the number of victims of child abuse will decrease.