DAVAO CITY, June 21 (PIA) – Advocacy group, Talikala, and the Philippine Information Agency Davao Region conducted on Thursday (June 17) the second of its series of media forum discussing Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OSAE).
Talikala Inc. executive director Jeanette L. Ampog bared that reporting online sexual abuse cases remained to be a challenge for the said advocacy group and even for government authorities.
“While there has been reported increase in OSAE cases during the time of the pandemic but we still find it challenging on convincing people to come out and report these abuses. Many people still don’t know what to do with their information and they only get to discuss it when the government and advocacy groups hold a forum in the community,” Ampog said.
Common reason voiced out by victims or family of the victim would be the repercussion or impact that it might cause to the family if and when the abuse is reported.
Ampog shared that there is still a need to intensify the awareness drive for individuals and families to understand the many phases and even the evolution of sexual abuses and exploitation done in the online world.
Stairway Foundation, Philippines senior advocacy officer Ysrael C. Diloy shared that the evolution of online sexual abuse was also brought about by the advancement of technology.
“Children’s exposure to online sexual abuses was relatively lower during the time when printed and magnetic medium were used such as cassette tapes. There were barriers which limited their access to these medium,” Diloy said.
However, when optical medium started to be used by the people such as DVDs and VCDs, access to these materials became easier.
The third wave, he explained, started to open up easy access when online through websites and social media started to be offered to the public.
“From subscription-based it has turned into ad-based wherein advertisements now offer materials for free and then directs the user to the site where adult pornography and even child sexual abuse is the content,” he said.
Diloy further explained that filtering social media to protect a child from these online abuses might not be entirely feasible such as totally blocking social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter where most of the exposure is often coursed through.
Instead of filtering social media, the OSAE advocate rather advised that parents be proactive in protecting their children from these exposure, abuses, and exploitation.
Children must be clarified on the definition of online strangers especially now that kids could hardly tell who they know personally and who they just get acquainted through the online sphere.
These days, he said online abuses starts with “grooming” or when the offended builds a relationship with a child, and sometimes with their wider family, gaining their trust and a position of power over the child, in preparation for abuse.
Children must also be aware of the early warning signs of online sexual abuse such as when the conversation is sexual in nature or when the offender starts to give out triggers.
Common online sexual abuse activity is sexting or the exchange of self-produced sexualized content.
Diloy said while it can be a positive experience and a normal exploration of sexuality and relationships of a teenager, however, it may still place consenting children at risk especially when the platform becomes a venue to produce sexual materials. (PIA XI/Frances Mae Macapagat)
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