In a shameful claim to infamy, Australians are the third-biggest users of the Philippines online child sex trade.
They are the paedophiles who prey on the poor children of the Philippines and our other South East Asia neighbours and despite years of warnings and publicity, Australians are now major contributors to the dark and disturbing demand for online sexual abuse that burgeoned during the pandemic lockdowns.
Manila-based Australian Federal Police child protection officer, Detective Sergeant Daisie Beckensall said the traditional face-to-face “sex tourism” was still prominent, but it now sat alongside the growing problem of pay-per-view live-streamed abuse. “During the COVID pandemic, worldwide, we saw an increase of people online and an increase in live-distance child abuse … COVID made it so much easier for offenders in Australia to contact the children, and we’re seeing that continue,” she said.
The Philippines’ child for sale trade to foreigners started around US navy and air force bases but received a considerable boost when word of mouth from crew working on the 1979 filmturned Pagsanjan, south of Manila, into a paradise for paedophiles. AIDS only slightly inhibited child sex tourism trade and over the years Australians occasionally were deported or arrested on arrival back home.
But last year, the Philippine government did agree to strengthen law enforcement tools and promote the use of videotaped evidence to prevent re-traumatising victims. Enforcing aspects of the law, however, had proved challenging.
That may be a fraught exercise. Australia’s cyber safety regulator dropped a legal challenge against Elon Musk-owned X over removal of a Sydney stabbing video. Such insouciance suggests some tech giants and payment platforms do not like being pushed around. Yet, they, like the world, have known for years that these innocent and impoverished children are preyed upon but still continue to enable paedophiles to abuse them by facilitating transmission of child abuse images.
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