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Understanding OSAEC Trafficking in the Philippines: Analysis and recommendations for better detection, deterrence and prevention – Interim report
Published October 2023
While rapid growth in Internet connectivity and technological innovation has brought children around the world increased opportunities for educational and social development, it has also made them vulnerable to online sexual abuse and exploitation (OSAEC). Vulnerability to OSAEC has only heightened throughout the COVID19 lockdown, with foreign customers and local facilitators enjoying an unprecedented level of access to children.
This interim report brings together findings from a two year study on the facilitation of OSAEC in the Philippines, a global epicentre of OSAEC live-streaming. It highlights the key features of OSAEC facilitation in the Philippines, drawing attention to important drivers and contextual and contagion effects, as well as a number of psychological and cultural factors that help explain the prevalence of OSAEC offending in the country. In the second year of this project we will be building on these findings, analysing interviews with convicted facilitators and chatlog data to better interpret the varied individual, family, community, social and technological issues that motivate offenders to facilitate online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines – with a view to improving the efficacy and impact of protective, deterrence, and preventative approaches to this exploitation in the Philippines and in other similar settings.