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The Virtual Summit of Global Resolution Against Sexual Exploitation of Children Online began on Wednesday, November 18, with dignitaries affirming the leadership of the Philippine government in addressing the global scourge of live-streamed child sexual abuse.
“The Philippine government refuses to sit idly by as this reprehensible crime threatens our children,” said Justice Department Secretary Menardo Guevarra in his keynote address to hundreds of child protection experts and leaders from around the world. .
“We have been tenacious in seeking to put an end to it in the country by sustaining and scaling all our efforts to address this problem,” he added.
John C. Law, Charge d’Affaires Acting for the US Embassy in the Philippines, highlighted the significant progress made by the Philippines, as stated in the US Department of Justice’s Annual Report on Human Trafficking.
“For five consecutive years, the Philippines has maintained a Tier 1 ranking, the highest in the report, by continuing to take concrete and defined measures to combat trafficking, including online exploitation,” he said in a speech during the opening ceremony.
“Together, the Philippines and the United States have built a solid foundation on which to enhance and expand our efforts to stop human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children online,” added Law.
IJM Asia Pacific President Christa Sharpe said: “While the Philippines has become a global hotspot for this rapidly emerging and technology-enabled form of child abuse and trafficking, the Philippine government has also bravely faced this problem and aspires to become to fight and end crime ”.
The Philippine experience in the fight against online child sexual exploitation (Osec) is highlighted at the three-day summit, organized by the Philippine Interagency Council Against Human Trafficking (Iacat) in partnership with the Office to Monitor and Combat the US Department of Justice Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) and International Justice Mission (IJM).
“Noting the significance of this event and given that the crime of online sexual exploitation of children returned to the spotlight during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic after an observed increase in its incidence in the Philippines, it was clear to all that it is imperative that the Philippine government, its partners and stakeholders continue to work and adapt to changing times, ”said Philippine Under Secretary of Justice Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, Under Secretary in Charge of Iacat.
The first day of the summit delved into the nature and scale of online child sexual exploitation, in particular child trafficking to create new materials on child sexual exploitation, including live streamed child sexual abuse, a debate led by the director of the IJM field office in Manila, Reynaldo Bicol. .
The response from the Philippines was also explained, with ideas from Undersecretary Aglipay-Villar; Police Colonel Maria Sheila T. Portento, Chief of the Center for the Protection of Women and Children-Division for Combating Trafficking in Persons of the Philippine National Police; Atty. Janet M. Francisco, head of the Division for Combating Trafficking in Persons of the National Investigation Office; and Undersecretary Glenda D. Glova of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
On the second day, sessions will focus on key lessons learned and effective practices developed in the Philippines in the areas of investigations and law enforcement, prosecution, after-victim care, building local stakeholder coalitions, and advocacy.
The final day of the summit will highlight the global response against the sexual exploitation of children online, including the collaboration of international prosecutors and technological innovations to detect new materials on child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse broadcast live.
“At the end of this conference, we envisioned a network of the international community that is working together and that is determined to live in a world free from the sexual exploitation of children online,” Atty said. Samson Inocencio Jr., Vice President of IJM Global Hub Against Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.
For more information on the summit, visit https://ejandoc.ph/. For inquiries, please email [email protected]. (PR)
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