Facilitation of Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) in the Philippines: Analysis and recommendations for better detection, deterrence and prevention
File Type
Project Document
Publication Date
2024
Description
This report presents findings from a two-year study examining how and why online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) is facilitated in the Philippines. The study sought to understand the characteristics, motivations, situational factors, and pathways associated with supply-side OSAEC offending and to identify strategies for improving its detection, deterrence, and prevention. Phase One involved interviews with 26 domain experts and 21 local caseworkers, together with an analysis of 36 de-identified post-conviction case files. Phase Two included interviews with 23 women convicted of OSAEC-related offenses and incarcerated in the Philippines, supplemented by analyses of chat logs and financial transactions involving foreign perpetrators and local facilitators. The findings confirm that OSAEC occurs in both rural and urban communities. Facilitators were predominantly women, often family members or trusted individuals known to the victims. Economic hardship was a major driver, although the prospect of earning “easy money,” community normalization, the transfer of criminal knowledge, and previous experiences of abuse and exploitation also contributed to involvement. Girls were more frequently victimized, while cases involving boys commonly included child-on-child or sibling-on-sibling abuse. The study further identified offense-minimizing beliefs, intergenerational cycles of abuse, online platforms, payment channels, barriers to reporting, and disparities between penalties imposed on local facilitators and foreign demand-side offenders as factors sustaining OSAEC. The report recommends child-centered measures to reduce re-traumatization and secondary victimization, community interventions addressing cycles of abuse and exploitation, stronger safeguards across online and financial platforms, and a coordinated global response focused on disrupting international demand.
About the Project
The DLSU–Social Development Research Center implemented the project “Study of Convicted OSEC Traffickers in the Philippines” from October 30, 2021, to June 30, 2022. Dr. Melvin A. Jabar served as Project Leader, with Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja and Dr. Zaldy C. Collado as members of the research team. The project was undertaken with Justice and Care and the International Justice Mission.
The study examined how and why convicted facilitators became involved in the online sexual exploitation of children and how they interacted with foreign demand-side offenders. It aimed to inform law enforcement investigations, technological and financial safeguards, and protective, preventive, rehabilitative, and aftercare measures. Its findings contributed to the broader two-year study conducted by Justice and Care in partnership with Dublin City University, DLSU–SDRC, and International Justice Mission. The resulting report provides recommendations for improving the detection, deterrence, and prevention of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines.
The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goals 5, 10, and 16.
Recommended Citation
Justice and Care. (2024). Facilitation of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) in the Philippines: Analysis and recommendations for better detection, deterrence and prevention.
