The implications of technology on human rights have become more apparent over time. For instance, the narrowing digital divide between the West and the Global South has led to the broadening of some human rights abuses in the latter, as evidenced by the growth of online sexual exploitation, also known as cyber sex trafficking. 

Here, perpetrators from Europe and North America send payments to individuals in developing countries, with the agreement that these recipients will perform sexual acts on camera for their pleasure. Reports indicate that children are often targets of this practice, under what has become known as OSEC (i.e. Online Sexual Exploitation of Children).  In such instances, older and “financially motivated” family members and associates coerce vulnerable children into performing sexual acts for OSEC buyers,  a majority of whom are aged 50-59. Further reports indicate that sex offenders usually provide graphic and detailed instructions to in-person traffickers who ensure that the child performs to the specifications of the offenders. 

Insufficient law enforcement in some of these developing countries has ensured that there is ample supply to meet the demand for this crime, thereby violating the rights of some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

FACTORS ENABLING OSEC IN THE PHILIPPINES

Developing countries such as the Philippines have fallen victim to OSEC due to poverty, high internet access rates, and proficiency in English. A 2016 study conducted by UNICEF revealed that an overwhelming 8 out of 10 children in the Philippines are vulnerable to OSEC, whilst 2.5% of children have already had sexual images of themselves shared on the internet and via cell phones. 

As may be expected, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this practice as a weak economy and increased amounts of time spent at home with children has fostered an environment for this crime to thrive. 

In practice, international laws such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, which have been signed and ratified by the Philippines, should be sufficient to prosecute OSEC, especially when coupled with domestic laws such as Republic Act No. 9775. However, law enforcement has been weak, as evidenced by reports which highlighted that only 27 convictions were handed out in 2018, despite the fact that thousands of cases were reported in that year. This does not serve to impede perpetrators from engaging in this illegal practice, especially where financial gains can be obtained. 

In addition to this, reports indicate that law enforcement agencies in the Philippines demonstrate “little consistency or coordination in data collection” of cases,  while there has been insufficient deployment of human and financial resources assigned to this issue. Perhaps even more disturbing are the reports which indicate that  “rank, diplomacy, and formalities” with foreign governments and law enforcement units often take precedence over effective collaboration on OSEC.

Here, we witness a case where the general well-being of marginalised children takes a backseat to other priorities. 

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Indeed, the state of affairs in the Philippines indicates that countries with similar conditions of poverty and increasing rates of internet access could also fall victim to an influx of OSEC in the future. The implication of this is that children from the global south will be disproportionately affected.

As such, governments from the global south ought to learn from the Philippines’ mistakes by ensuring that they build their capacity to combat OSEC, seek genuine collaboration with international law enforcement agencies, and develop systems that effectively convict and deter perpetrators, thereby honouring their commitments to children’s rights. 

There is also a clear need to develop some sort of uniformity of laws and practises around the regulation of the internet, especially in relation to major tech companies in the Western world. These entities should play a more active role in closing the gaps that facilitate the online exploitation of children. 

This is a matter that needs to be more prevalent in discussions on technology and human rights and should be more widely addressed by organisations, international lawyers, and human rights defenders across the globe. Vulnerable children, on the other hand, need to be sensitised to the growing dangers of internet access, whereas governments may need to investigate providing financial alternatives to vulnerable families to reduce the incentive of OSEC.  In the absence of similar solutions, the world’s most marginalized children may fall victim to cyber sex trafficking. 

Amy is a human rights specialist with an interest in women’s rights and international criminal law. She has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from York University, a master’s in International Affairs from the American University of Paris, and a master of laws in Diplomacy and International Law from Lancaster University. Amy currently works as a human rights consultant and serves on the Executive Committee of the World Federalist Movement and Institute of Global Policy.

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