MANILA,
5 April 2005 – Carol Bellamy, outgoing executive
director of the United Nations Children's Fund, today joined
Secretary Corazon Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare
and Development to launch the findings of a new study, "Child
Pornography in the Philippines."
The study
found extensive evidence that child pornography is occuring
in the Philippines as a result of both foreign and domestic
perpetrators seeking to exploit poor and vulnerable familes
and children.
One of the most worrisome findings is the link between local
producers and networks of pornographers operating overseas
for the purposes of distributing child pornography over the
Internet. The study was commissioned by UNICEF and conducted
by the Programme on Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights of
the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and
Developmental Studies (UP CIDS).
"I
am glad that I could come to the Philippines to assist in
this timely and compelling study on a deeply distressing and
challenging form of exploitation of children," said Bellamy,
who is here to participate in the 112th Inter-parliamentary
Union (IPU) Assembly.
She added,
"There are very few such studies like this and I hope
this will help many other countries to look into this phenomenon
and then get to work on the tough law enforcement and regulatory
issues involved."
Dr. Nicholas
Alipui, Country Representative of UNICEF Philippines, explains:
"We commissioned this study because of persistent rumors
and anecdotes, mainly coming from the experience of children
themselves, who have been trafficked and forced into prostitution.
Digital technology, with its obvious attractions for children,
can facilitate recruitment of kids into this practice. It
can also be seen as a 'safer' form of prostitution."
The study
details the way Internet technology makes it difficult for
officials to monitor and investigate the criminal practice.
It is increasingly clear that un-chaperoned Internet use by
children leaves them vulnerable to child pornographers through
e-mail, chat rooms, web sites, web cameras and Internet cafes.
Digital cameras and mobile phones equipped with cameras are
also reported as being used to produce and disseminate child
pornography.
"This
is not going to be easy," Bellamy said. "We are
dealing with criminals and they are not stupid. There is lots
of money to be made and they will to to any length to continue
harming and exploiting children in this awful way. We need
governments to make good laws and beef up investigative work."
It is
reported that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are resistant
to divulging personal information of users suspected of being
pornographers or pedophiles. In addition, credit card companies
do not make sufficient efforts to assist in law enforcement
citing privacy rights.
Bellamy,
who will complete her 10-year tenure as UNICEF chief, noted
the need for better cooperation with countries that harbor
many of these criminals. "We also need to wake people
up to the widespread nature of these crimes. The Internet
is everywhere in countries like the Philippines and wherever
poor children live, this form of abuse can reach them."
said Bellamy.
The study
highlights numerous challenges in the fight against child
pornography. Among these are:
- Child
pornography is a little understood and hard to investigate
practice;
- Identifying
victims, perpetrators, and users of child pornography is
difficult;
- Knowing
the age of the child is difficult;
- Information
technology's use is uncontrollable;
- Child
pornography is linked with other forms of sexual exploitation;
- Official
statistics on child pornography is incomplete;
- Credit
card companies and ISPs are not cooperating;
- Gaps
in the law and enforcement exist.
Several
measures on child pornography are pending before the Philippine
Congress. |
