Child welfare group calls for concerted effort to keep kids safe online

A children's welfare group on Tuesday encouraged efforts to protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation.

Save the Children Philippines called on the government, civil society organizations, the private sector, parents, guidance, teachers, and the media to support the cause.

The group made the call during the celebration of the Safer Internet Day and the National Awareness Week for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.

One in two Filipino children experience online abuse, with one in four being exposed to sexually explicit content based on the National Baseline Study on Violence against Children, the group said in a statement.

Aside from this, children also said they have sent sexual messages and have shared nude pictures of themselves or their sexual activities on the internet or through mobile phones.

According to the group, this issue persists in the country due to the lack of capacity of families to support children’s basic needs and the notion that abuse or exploitation only happen with physical contact.

Poverty, broken homes, poor parenting, consumerism, peer influence, family values, and socio-cultural beliefs, and norms are among the drivers of online violence, according to the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of the Drivers of Violence.

“…The government should pass and implement laws and policies that would protect children from OSAEC (online sexual abuse and exploitation of children),” Save the Children Philippines chief executive officer Albert Muyot said.

Muyot underscored the importance of allocation from the government, engagement of the private sector, supervision from family and schools in addressing the issue. — Joviland Rita/BM, GMA News