Page 38 - NOVEMBER 2017 'A' ISSUE

38 www.hello-philippines.com
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MANILA – With the frequent use
of social media platforms and other
websites, it has become increasingly
easy for some Filipino youth to enter
the online sex industry, according to
a study released by the humanitarian
group Plan International.
The study, “Children and the Sex
Trade in the Digital Age,” provides
a glimpse into how technology has
allowed the commercial sexual
exploitation of children (CSEC) to
evolve from picking up children in bars
or brothels to customers simply lurking
in shady Facebook groups or websites
in search for children providing sexual
services.
“The facilitation of CSEC has become
easier and its containment or control
more complex as transactions are
facilitated through the internet with the
use of smartphones and computers,”
the study stated.
“Internet-mediated transactions
occurred in pornography websites and
social media sites, blurring the formerly
defined geographic boundaries of the
industry,” it added.
Commercial sexual exploitation of
children (CSEC) refers to the use of the
child in sexual activities (prostitution,
pornography, or trafficking for sexual
purposes) for money or other forms of
compensation.
Dr. Elizabeth De-Castro, Executive
Director of Psychosocial Support and
Children’s Rights Resource Center, said
this kind of phenomenon has made
every child accessing the internet a
potential victim of sexual exploitation
for money.
“The potential victim of this kind
of phenomenon, because it is internet-
mediated, is your children, my children,
other people’s children,” she said.
“Because the base is no longer
in brothels, the base is no longer in
freelancing in the streets. The base is
the home, the school, internet cafes,
wherever young people congregated,”
she added.
The study interviewed 32 children
who entered the online sex industry
between the ages of 13 and 18 years
old.
Poverty was cited as one of their
main reasons for opting to sell their
sexual services. Some needed the
money to put food on the table or to
pay for educational expenses or hospital
bills of a relative.
Some said their lack of education
hindered them from searching for
decent jobs.
Some children said they voluntarily
entered the sex industry, but still others
had a grim disclosure: their parents
forced them to sell their bodies online.
One 17-year-old girl in the study
recalled how her own mother would
beat her up, then lock her up if she
refused to entertain customers.
Inside the online sex trade industry.
The study said the internet has provided
various options to customers seeking
sexual services to children: whether to
transact face-to-face or online, whether
to go freelance or through a pimp,
whether to remain a sex provider or
have other roles such as an “attacker” (a
person who refers customers to friends)
and pimps.
Technology has also introduced
another form of commercial sexual
exploitation called the live online
sexual abuse, wherein a child performs
a sexual act live over the internet to be
watched by other people in different
locations.
Some of the children in the study,
at one point, became “freelancers” or
those involved in the online sex trade
without a pimp. But others seek pimps
so they could be protected from abuse
and fraud.
Freelancers usually post in their
Facebook accounts their characteristics
and the type of customer they prefer.
They also include terms of payment,
the specific sexual act to be performed
including do’s and don’ts, length of the
sexual service, as well as the date, time,
and location of the service.
Other conditions were also added,
such as provision of transportation
service or use of condom.
Online pimp. Meanwhile, an online
pimp opens a group in social media or
a website and maintains it by providing
profiles and photos of sex providers.
The study’s key informant who was
also an online pimp said a Facebook
group account usually would include
five to 15 girls active in a particular
area.
Facebook groups involved in the
online sex trade have names such as
PSP Crib 2, Favorite Walk, PSP for Rent,
Take a Walk, Chubby Bunnies, PSP On
the Go, Metro Walkers, Favorite Coffee,
Need pizza, candy, coffee, etc., and
Private Pinay.
These accounts have either closed or
secret group features on Facebook.
Websites used for sex trade
are manila.craigslist.com, manila.
backpage.com, planetromeo.com,
wechat.com, and grindr.com
Even mobile apps, such as WeChat
and Grindr, have been used as means to
reach out to customers.
An agreed-upon sexual service with
NEWS
terms of payment is set before the pimp
and the customer meet. The pimp also
sets meet-ups to check the appearance
of the customer and evaluate if there
are safety issues with the customer.
If the customer has previously
availed of sexual services or has built
a reputation with the pimp, meet-ups
are no longer needed. The pimp then
simply sends the room number of the
hotel or motel to the customer.
The children interviewed in the
study said their customers’ age ranged
between 20 to 50 years old. They also
noticed that younger customers tend to
be sadistic, demanding, and abusive.
Foreigners are their usual customers,
they added. But professionals and
government workers are also among
their clientele.
Engagements with the customer
last from an hour to three hours. Some
children have also noted the number of
“pops” or times of ejaculation specified
instead of the length of time with the
customer.
Payments are made either through
cash or, in the case of cyber pornography,
money transfers.
Other payments include the
provision of clothes, mobile phones,
gadgets, food, or just a place to stay.
Regular payroll. One respondent
even described a highly organized
sexual service operation site wherein a
payroll system is observed like a regular
job.
She only needs to comply with
a certain number of hours before
receiving compensation issued every
Alleged looting in Marawi by gov’t soldiers being investigated—Lorenzana
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana
emphasized that they are investigating
the alleged looting incident in Marawi
involving six soldiers and a Philippine
Army officer, according to a report on
Unang Balita on Wednesday.
November 2017 – No. 21 • UK & Europe Edition
Child holds up a placard in
a mass action against sexual
exploitation of children
15th and 30th of the month.
Most respondents were paid
between P1,000 and P3,000 per
transaction if the deal was made online.
Those who dealt with customers
personally were paid P500 or less.
Several factors also affect the pricing
of the sexual services rendered to
customers, such as the nationality and
age of the customer as well as the type
and degree of the sexual act.
On the part of the service provider,
his or her characteristics or “freshness”
are also factored in.
Tougher nut to crack. The study
also noted that despite the various laws
and structures aimed at combating
commercial sexual exploitation
of children online, the ineffective
implementation of these policies
remained the major issue.
Lack of awareness of the laws,
“We did not believe that before kasi
nga kasagsagan pa ng gulo, pero sinabi ko
naman sa mga nag-a-accuse, we will look
into this. Ito na nga we are going to apply
to them the full force of the law,” he said.
Joint Task Force Ranao deputy
constrained budget to carry out the
policies, and the lack of political will
were also factors that prevented the
government from fully addressing the
issue.
It has been harder to monitor and
control the commercial sex exploitation
of children because of the availability of
internet, computers, and smartphones.
But the best solution, the study
stated, was still prevention by working
on the following:
uRegulation of information and
communication technology must be
enforced.
vMechanisms should be created
for regulating access to certain websites
and social media.
wWider information campaign
that will increase the responsible
use of technology. n Camille Aguinaldo,
InterAksyon | October 29, 2017, 9:23 AM
commander Colonel Romeo Brawner had
said that they will not tolerate such abuses
as they have already warned their soldiers
against looting.
Class suit. Lorenzana added that it is
also the right of Marawi residents to file a
class suit against the government for the
destruction of their city.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines
terminated its combat operations in Marawi
City last October 23 after President Rodrigo
Duterte announced the city’s liberation on
October 17, five months after it was seized
by the ISIS-inspired Maute group.
Siege leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Omar
Maute were killed by the military in an
operation on October 16.
Latest data showed that a total of 47
civilians, 165 soldiers and police officers,
and 920 Maute members have been killed
in the firefight in Marawi City since May
23. n Marlly Rome C. Bondoc, KG, GMA News
| Published November 1, 2017 10:53 AM