BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
IN THE the Bulacan case, the online sexual abuse and exploitation was uncovered after international police detected the child abuse being streamed online. The Swiss suspect 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,” Unicef said.
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 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 lower the number of child abuse victims./PN
