The Philippine Online Chronicles

We all know about child prostitution and have been dismayed over the degree to which impoverished Filipino children have fallen victims to it.  But what do we know about child pornography?

Pornography is defined as "printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement."

Many will be shocked to know that child pornography in this country is just about as rampant as child prostitution.  Every year, the number of cases increases.

Perhaps we choose to ignore it; pretend it doesn’t exist.  But that is hard to do if you know hundreds of thousands of children have been forced to participate in producing these pornographic materials. Yes, children as young as six years old.

Child Pornography and Child Prostitution

Child pornography and child prostitution are often confused and interchanged with one another. They are actually different.

From my interview with Jo Alforque of End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Traficking of Children (ECPAT) Philippines,  child prostitution happens when a child lets his/her body be used to satisfy a client’s sexual pleasure in exchange for an amount of money.  Child pornography, on the other hand, involves the use of media such as videocams, the Internet, cellphones, DVDs, or even books. As long as one exposes oneself through any of this media for another person’s sexual gratification, even without physical touching, that is pornography.

Exactly how prevalent is child pornography?  Unfortunately, the figures are vague. This is why most Filipinos are less aware of this issue than of prostitution.

Child pornography is not as obvious as prostitution.

When you see an older man with a skimpily-clothed child entering a motel, you’d know instantly that’s likely to be prostitution. When you see a girl wandering around the streets, offering her body in exchange for supper, that’s prostitution.

Not so with pornography. You scarcely know when pornography is happening somewhere --  not until the perpetrators publish it online or sell copies of it on DVD --  just about when it’s too late to stop it from happening.

Prostitution and pornography may or may not happen at the same time.

Effects of pornography on the victims

Pornography lasts a lifetime. As long as a copy of the material exists, it can go around the Internet forever, tormenting the child of his/her exploited past. Some can take it head-on, while some let themselves be forever traumatized by this reminder of their ruined childhood.

According to a study conducted by UNICEF about child pornography in the Philippines, there are different reaction patterns categorized by the different effects that involvement in pornography brought these children. One is the "integrating pattern," as displayed by those who feel least affected. Children who fall into this pattern could freely talk about their experience without letting it bother them, never blaming themselves for the incident and never letting their memories of sexual abuse stop them from living a good life and looking ahead to an equally good future.

Those who deny their experiences or refuse to speak about them fall under the "avoidance pattern" category.  Recounting the experiences would often plague them, haunted with fear of their abusers. At their young age, these children display stress, depression, self-destructive behavior, and an imprudent sense of shame over their participation in the incident. Hence, their experiences hinder them from looking at their future with confidence and hope, often leading to an uncaring attitude.

A third category is called the "repeating pattern." Children who exhibit this pattern are the most badly affected by their experience, manifesting symptoms of post-traumatic syndrome from the exploitation. Talking about the experience would cause them distress, which may lead to complete withdrawal from establishing relationships with others. Some of them may become more inclined to sexual activities, rendering them more vulnerable to further sexual exploitation.

Who protects them?

Children are not exactly helpless or hopeless in the face of sexual exploitation, if they are willing to battle it. There are a few places they can run to. One of these is ECPAT Philippines, an international non-government organization that has launched a crusade against sexual exploitation of children. It fights the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC for short), especially child pornography.

Among the measures EPCAT Philippines has taken is the "Make IT Safe" program – the "IT" referring to "Information Technology" or the Internet.  This campaign was conducted with conferences among Internet cafe owners and local government officers for awareness-raising.  It has also launched community and school campaigns against child pornography, especially targeting the youth who are both potential victims of the crisis as well as users of the Internet where pornography is widespread. ECPAT lobbied strongly for the recently-enacted Anti-Child Pornography Law ( Republic Act 9775).

R.A 9775

Before it was signed into law, the anti-pornography bill was left languishing for many, many years. It was pursued with blow-hot-blow-cold fervor as legislators came and went.  Until recently, when the thoughtful hands of Congresswomen Monica Louise Prieto Teodoro, also known as presidential candidate Gibo Teodoro’s wife, picked it up and nurtured it.  Thanks to her, the law was finally signed last November.  From then on, child prostitution and any manifestation of it is illegal and punishable.

The law defines "child pornography" as "any representation, whether visual, audio or written combination thereof, by electronic, mechanical, digital, optical, magnetic or any other means, of a child engaged or involved in real or simulated explicit sexual activities."

"Child" does not only mean a minor under 18 years of age; it is also defined to be a person of any age incapable of supporting himself/herself, or unable to protect himself/herself from any harmful elements due to physical or mental disability. The term could also mean any person or a crafted image depicted or portrayed as a child. So even if you’re 40 years old, wearing pigtails and holding a lollipop in one hand, or a cartoonist drawing children engaging in explicit sexual acts, then you’re still going straight to jail.

The law also prohibits other acts that can lead a person towards child pornography:

o Grooming - preparing a child to engage in pornography;

o Luring a child through communication to participate in pornography; and

o Pandering - advertising, promoting, or distributing materials that contains any form of child pornography.

The mere possession of pornographic items, regardless of whether you produced them or not, is punishable by this law. Even the simple act of viewing one of these explicit materials is  participation in child pornography. And just so you know, the next time you attempt to click on a link that shows a nude child virtually seducing you, the smallest fine is P100,000, and the highest one is worth P5 million.

What can you do?

Why is this even happening? The answer is simple -- economics. The higher the demand for the material, the more the scumbag producers will try to supply it.

We know from experience that it is easier to pass laws than to enforce them.  We still have to see if there are enough muscles and teeth to the law and whether the trusty ECPAT volunteers are trusty and vigilant enough to spot and help victims.

The ordinary citizen can help child pornography.  And that means you and me.  We can call the authorities. When we witness an incident, let’s not hesitate to run to the nearest barangay hall or police department to report it.  We might be the only hope for the child before worse things happen.

Here are other measures we can take.

1. Call the ECPAT. They take in victims who have nowhere to run. If you have a victim under your wing, it’s better to put him/her in the care of people from ECPAT, who know better how to deal with the traumatized child and who have more connections with the authorities. You can contact them through +63-2-920-8151 or +63-2-441-5108.

2. Don’t watch child porn. Not only are you breaking the law, but you’re adding to the demand side of the trade as well.  And while you’re at it, report the site or material to the authorities.

3. Support advocacies against child pornography. You don’t necessarily have to donate money to organizations like ECPAT that fight  sexual exploitation of children; it receives financial support from big organizations like UNICEF and ECPAT International. You can show your support in many other ways like attending events, joining Facebook groups (ECPAT Philippines has a facebook group of its own. You can join it here), and spreading the word. You may wish to join ECPAT by volunteering. Last time I checked, they were in need of participants.

4. And last, but not the least, comply with the Anti-Child Pornography Act. If you stick to the rules, you won't go to jail for the crime.  Observing the law also means helping other children and clearing the paths to a fresh start. Remember, the change we’re all hoping for our children’s future starts with you.

Image:  designed by Jessica Salao

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