Financial Crime World

Here is the converted article in Markdown format:

Extreme Poverty Drives Online Child Exploitation in the Philippines

Manila - A recent study has identified extreme poverty as a root cause of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OSAEC) in the Philippines, particularly in rural areas.

Factors Contributing to OSAEC

  • Many families are large and struggling to make ends meet, forcing them to resort to OSAEC activities to support basic needs such as food, shelter, and education.
  • The lure of “easy money” also motivates individuals, including older minors, to engage in OSAEC.

Contagion Effects and Transactional Relationships

  • Contextual and contagion effects play a significant role in facilitating OSAEC activity, with motivation arising where precedent exists in relation to OSAEC activity in a neighborhood.
  • Family members, neighbors, and youth themselves may learn about the financial “advantages” associated with OSAEC from other community members.
  • The relationships between foreign perpetrators and facilitators are transactional in nature, with minimization of the impact and severity of the crime and offense-supportive rationalizations prevailing.

COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact

  • Stay-at-home orders and online schooling have compromised traditional protective education structures and avenues for reporting.
  • The tourism industry, which many communities depend on, was severely curtailed, leading to limited economic opportunities.

Philippines’ Vulnerability

  • The Philippines is considered a “hotspot” for OSAEC, with some experts describing it as the “epicenter” of international OSAEC criminality.
  • Rural areas are particularly vulnerable due to resource and capacity constraints, making it more difficult to detect OSAEC activity.

Reporting and Perpetrators

  • Law enforcement officials estimate that the country produces online child exploitation materials on a large scale.
  • There has been an almost four-fold increase in reporting of child sexual exploitation cases in 2021 compared to 2019 figures prior to the pandemic.
  • The majority of perpetrators are from developed Western countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

Addressing OSAEC

  • The study highlights the financial dimensions of OSAEC facilitation, including the use of mobile phones and internet connections to send materials abroad.
  • The findings suggest that OSAEC is a complex issue requiring a multifaceted approach to address poverty, economic disadvantage, and cultural factors contributing to its prevalence in the Philippines.