ADAN, Quennie Kate T.

15, 2015
Human Rights
404

October
Room

CYBERSEX TRAFFICKING and CHILD VICTIMIZATION

Nowadays, we are witnessing how modern technologies shape our society. It

affects many areas of the society in positive ways which makes our life better. In
has been said that technology links the world together. In particular is the use of the
internet which offers a variety of benefits. However, as the internet provides an
exceptional advantage, there are many risk associated with its use. Criminal
organizations are turning increasingly to the internet to expedite their doings and
takes advantage of the convenience and the anonymity of the internet to facilitate
wide range of criminal activities which knows no limit.
According to the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime
and the Treatment of Offenders, cybercrime is any crime capable of being
committed in an electronic environment, where crime refers to behavior generally
defined as illegal or likely to be criminalized. Its commission can be done through a
computer system or network, in a computer system or network or against a
computer system or network.
1

The most challenging issue, perhaps, is the issue of trafficking as it relates

to the cyber-sex trade. Trafficking is clearly seen as a violation of human rights as
a violation of the right of freedom from enslavement, and as an issue of
discrimination. It is for the purpose of prostitution may relate to the cyber-sex trade
in that woman may be coerced into appearing on websites as prostitutes or selling
sex in some other way across the Internet, but may not physically cross any borders
to do so. This point of movement would appear to be crucial to the offenses of
trafficking.
In the Trafficking in Persons Report 2013 of the US Department of State, the
Philippines retained its Tier 2 status, which is given to countries whose governments
do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts minimum standards
but are but are making significant efforts to do so. "Rampant corruption" in all
government levels weakened efforts against human trafficking in the Philippines,
which remains non-compliant to international anti-trafficking standards, a United
States report recently said. Officials in government units and agencies assigned to
enforce laws against human trafficking reportedly permitted trafficking offenders to
conduct illegal activities, allowed traffickers to escape during raids, extorted bribes,
facilitated illegal departures for overseas workers, and accepted payments or sexual
services from establishments known to traffic women and children.
1

Mathias Klang and Andrew Murray, Human Rights in the Digital, Age (London, The Glass House Press, 2005), 24.

Human trafficking and the prostitution of children is a significant issue in

the Philippines, often controlled by organized crime syndicates. Human Trafficking in

the Philippines is a crime against humanity. In an effort to deal with the problem,
the Philippines passed R.A. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, a penal
law against human trafficking, sex tourism, sex slavery and child prostitution. A
1997 report put the number of child victims of prostitution at 75,000 in the
Philippines, with other estimates saying as many as 100,000.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) estimated 60,000 to
100,000 children in the Philippines were involved in prostitution rings.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) about 100,000
children were involved in prostitution as of 2009 is a high incidence of child
prostitution in tourist areas. An undetermined number of children are forced into
exploitative labor operations. It was estimated in 1995 that the Philippines was the
fourth country with the most number of children forced into prostitution, and
authorities have identified an increase in child molesters travelling to the
Philippines. In 2007, there were estimated to be 375,000 women and girls in the sex
trade in the Philippines, mostly between the ages of 15 and 20, though some are as
young as 11.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies stated
in 2003 that there were more than 1.5 million street children in the Philippines and
many end up in prostitution and drug trafficking in places such as Manila and
Angeles City. Government and NGO estimates in 2007 on the number of women
trafficked ranged from 300,000 to 400,000 and the number of children trafficked
ranged from 60,000 to 100,000. According to the US government reports, the
number of child victims in the Philippines range from 20,000 to 100,000, with
foreign tourists, particularly other Asians, as perpetrators.
In 2010, an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines were
involved in prostitution rings, according to Minette Rimando, a spokeswoman for the
U.N.'S International Labour Organization's Manila office. A 2006 article reported that
based on statistics provided by the Visayan Forum Foundation, most victims were
between 12 to 22 years old. The Philippines is ranked under Tier 2 Watch List in the
2009 Trafficking in Persons Report of the United States (US) State Department due

2 Human trafficking in the Philippines, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_Philippines (accessed

on October 10, 2015)

to the Philippine governments alleged failure to show evidence of progress in

convicting trafficking offenders, particularly those responsible for labor trafficking.
3

It is also quite notable that there is a sharp inclination of researches on

cybercrime which has shown in maximum cases, online crimes are targeted towards
children and women in particular. While women benefit from using new digital and
Internet technologies for self-expression, networking, and professional activities,
cyber victimization remains an underexplored barrier to their participation. Women
often outnumber men in surveys on cyber victimization.
The internet is very alluring among teens because it gives them a sense of
empowerment where they can express themselves. It is very helpful especially to
those who are having a difficulty in socializing. It is a venue where they can
maintain a connection and widen their networks with other people. When online,
they feel ecstatic, thrilled, admired, attracted and accepted. These prevailing
emotions reinforces their irrational behavior. Even though how innocent it appears
to be, it is associated with a lot of risk. The world of virtual reality is their escape
from loneliness, sadness, depression and frustration which lures them to
perpetrators awaiting for their next victim.
Currently, apprehended online traffickers and child pornography are charged
in violation of various other Philippine laws. These include:

Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act

RA 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and

Discrimination Act

RA 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act

The Optional Protocol of the Convention regarding the Rights of the Child,
child prostitution and child pornography, given the great extent of this phenomenon
on the Internet, the legislature decided the express incrimination of child
pornography committed by network means, namely production aiming distribution,
offering or making available, distribution or transmission, obtaining for oneself or for
another pornographic material involving minors or possession, without right, of child
pornographic material. The Convention regarding cybercrime defines in Article 9
child pornography as including pornographic material (obscene, against moral
values) that visually depicts a minor engaged in an explicit sexual act, realistic
images representing a minor engaged in a sexual activity.
4

President Benigno Aquino III has signed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of
2012 which criminalizes a wide range of cyber activities from hacking and identity
3 Debarati Halder and K. Jaishankar,

Cyber Crime and the Victimization of Women: Laws, Rights and Regulations
(Information Science Reference, 2011).

theft to cybersquatting and spamming -- and announced the launch of the Office of
Cybercrime. The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 defines cybersex as "the willful
engagement, maintenance, control, or operation, directly or indirectly, of any
lascivious exhibition of sexual organs or sexual activity, with the aid of a computer
system, for favor or consideration." According to the law, the maximum penalty for
those convicted is a fine of 250,000 Phillippine pesos ($6,000) and prison time of up
to six months. It is, however, the vague terms used to outlaw cybersex and the
update of the Revised Penal Code to criminalize libel communication via computers
or "any other similar means which may be devised in the future, that is of most
concern. According to the country's Department of Social Welfare and
Development, 60,000 to 600,000 street children are victims of child prostitution.
However, if the act is designed to combat this problem, the use of the term "wilful"
is problematic. Victims of the crimes in question are by no means "wilful", so the
term is either included for other purposes or could potentially leave real victims
vulnerable to criminal charges. It suggests mutually willing participants, not just
those coerced to take part in profitable applications, could be considered criminally
liable. The terms "for favour and consideration" are also vague -- it is not directly
talking about partaking in cybersex for money, and so could be used to target
ordinary people with no involvement in the sex trade.
The law reform on human trafficking has already been enacted since 2012.
This represents an important advancement in the anti-trafficking world as it
recognizes victims and survivors of this crime as individuals who need to be
protected and given adequate services. Section Three of Republic Act 10364 defines
trafficking in persons as
the recruitment, obtaining, hiring, providing, offering, transportation, maintaining, harboring,
or receipt of persons with or without the victims consent or knowledge, within or across
national borders by means of threat, or use of force, or other forms of coercionabuse of
power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person (Congress of the
Philippines 2012, Section 3(a)).
5

This revised definition in the Filipino law demonstrates their understanding

and commitment to the cause. It is justly emphasized that the initial consent of the
victims does not determine the victims culpability in the crime. As a general
commentary, it is absurd to believe that a child will willingly consent to being
subjected to this inhumane practice of selling ones body for sex. They are still
developing and do not understand fully what a sexual relationship signifies. Section
3(b) of the Act confirms that children should be automatically considered victims
due to their diminished capacity to defend themselves and to understand what is
occurring.
The Government has acknowledged that the ways in committing sextrafficking has advanced and developed. It can be established in the inclusion of Sex
4Liat Clark, Philippines passes law that criminalises cybersex, http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/201209/20/philippines-cyber-crimes-act (accessed October 15, 2015).

5Ericka Carolina Rodas, The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society, 15.

Tourism, Section 3(g), Sexual Exploitation, Section 3(h) and Pornography, Section
3(j) to the definition of sex trafficking which is important in mitigating the number
of cases of sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and that of cybersex-trafficking.
The definition of pornography in Republic Act 10364 states, refers to any
representation, through publication, exhibition, cinematography, indecent shows,
information technology, or by whatever means, of a person engaged in real of
simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual part of a
person for primarily sexual services (Congress of the Philippines 2012, Section
3(J)).
Cyber-sex-trafficking is an emerging phenomenon that in need full and
comprehensive research studies to upgrade and heighten the precaution efforts. It
is not just a typical crime which happens once in a while but it happens all the time
around the world on several electronic devices. The perpetrators are usually
unidentified and undetected and that the law enforcement must create a way to
track them down with the help of technology experts. We need technology
innovations to safeguard our rights and in order to protect ourselves and our love
ones from danger.
In order to effectively and successfully combat this crime, we need to catch
up with the means and ways of traffickers. Global civil society together, hand in
hand can help in protecting and fighting this crime by means of sharing resources
and knowledge. It is an issue which deliberately affects everyone. Traffickers use the
latest technologies on computer or in any mobile devices in furtherance of their illmotive in different locations in order to have a guaranty of success. It is a crime that
destroys life especially of the youth, our future leaders. The best way to reduce and
diminish cases of human trafficking is to provide an effective measures and
procedures to prevent it from happening.