Child Sexual Abuse Is Rampant
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In its Oct. 9, 2024 survey report, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) revealed that one girl in every eight worldwide experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18.
An earlier UNICEF survey found that in the Philippines, seven million children are reportedly sexually and physically abused every year. This abuse is committed within families and the community. Thousands of children fall victim to human trafficking. Local governments are complicit in this by giving operating permits to sex bars, clubs, and hotels where trafficked minors are brought to and sold for sex to customers, many of whom are foreigners. This is considered legal by government officials because the children have IDs saying they are over 18. The IDs are fake, but this is ignored.
Child abuse statistics are even more shocking when the number of children abused online is added to the total. UNICEF says that if online abuse victims are included, as many as 650 million children — or one in every five — on the planet are sexual abuse victims. The sexual violence they experienced would naturally have a lifelong negative impact on them, and their trauma would be permanent unless they undergo deep healing therapy.
In an ongoing trial in Bulacan, evidence has been presented showing how two parents made hundreds of thousands of pesos by streaming live sex shows featuring young children being abused for foreigners. The abusers included a Swiss and a Briton, as well as others who were unidentified. Two aunts also allegedly participated in setting up sex shows abusing two young boys and a girl. The parents are in jail, but the trial has been proceeding very slowly for over two years now. The two aunts, however, have outsmarted all the efforts of the Bulacan police to arrest them. They and many more child abusers who are at large pose a challenge to Philippine National Police Director General Rommel Marbil, who was appointed last April.
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This case has brought shame to the Philippines, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. once said, because of the widespread online child abuse that is apparently undetected by telecommunication corporations. All this despite the passage of Republic Act 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (Anti-Osaec) Act, in July 2022.
That same year, the age of consent — the age at which a person is regarded to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts — was raised from 12 to 16. It was the lowest in the world; a disgraceful and shocking 12 years passed before it was raised. There was social acceptance; the State or Church didn't protest. The law only changed when the number of women in Congress increased. As a result of that change, any sexual act with someone younger than 16 is considered statutory rape, punishable with life imprisonment.
In the Bulacan case, the online sexual abuse and exploitation was uncovered after international police detected the child abuse being streamed online. The Swiss suspect, Rene Grubenmann, had been tried and convicted in his country but allegedly got a light suspended sentence and a fine. No compensation was awarded to the victims.
In its October 9 report, UNICEF said that although most sexual abuse victims were girls and young women, many boys and young men were also victimized. As many as 240 to 310 million boys and men — about one in 11 — were raped or sexually assaulted during their childhood, the UN agency added.
"The scale of this human rights violation is overwhelming, and it's been hard to fully grasp because of stigma, challenges in measurement, and limited investment in data collection," said a vocal critic of ex-President Duterte’s drug war.
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, with 79 million girls and women — 22 percent — affected.
In East and Southeast Asia, that figure is 75 million, or 8 percent of the child population. In Central and Southern Asia, 73 million, or 9 percent, of girls and young women were victims of rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
In the Bulacan case, the online sexual abuse and exploitation was uncovered after international police detected the child abuse being streamed online.
In Europe and Northern America, that number is 68 million, or 14 percent; in Latin America and the Caribbean, 45 million, or 18 percent; in Northern Africa and Western Asia, 29 million, or 15 percent; and in Oceania, 6 million or 34 percent.
UNICEF also said one in every four children were victims of abuse in "fragile settings," where they were at high risk. There are situations where children are most vulnerable: migrants with unaccompanied children who are traveling, refugees living in camps, and children living in slums and overcrowded settlements. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called sexual violence against children "a stain on our moral conscience."
In the Philippines, President Marcos said after listening to a victim of sexual abuse and exploitation telling her story during a conference: "As I was listening to the young lady ... I could not help but shed a tear to think [about reliving] the suffering that she went through. And to think how many other children are even — as we're here, [sitting] in this fancy hotel room, eating our fancy food — continuing to suffer the same fate as she has.
"And accompanying those tears that I just shed was a deep sense of shame because we have not done enough for the Philippines to now be considered the epicenter of ... sexual abuse and exploitation of children. And I leave it to your imagination. And I would imagine in some cases your imagination cannot even begin to fathom what is done to these poor children, to our poor children," he added. "We must do more."
Arresting child abusers with outstanding arrest warrants is doing more. In Zambales alone, there are about 20 at large. We hope they will be brought to justice and that the number of child abuse victims will diminish.
First published in www.preda.org
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