Students actively campaign against online sexual abuse
WITH the Philippines ranking as the number one hotspot of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (Osaec) and child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (Csaem), students in Davao are speaking up and actively campaigning for digital protection and internet safety.
“My only hope for digital technology in the future is for it to be utilized properly to achieve a safer and more supportive cyberworld for all of us, most especially for the children who have been a target of online abuse and exploitation,” says Clifford, a member of the Association of Youth Child Rights Advocates of Davao City, one of the youth groups organized by Save the Children Philippines.
To curb this silent pandemic, Save the Children Philippines advocates for the passage of Republic Act 11930 or the “AntiOsaec-Csaem Law” in 2022 and its implementing rules and regulations in 2023.
Save the Children also implements child rights-based programs such as the Protect Children Philippines Project, where schoolbased children and communities are trained to advocate and campaign against Osaec-Csaem.
Save the Children also works with the La Filipina National High School Supreme School Government and trained its core leaders to facilitate online courses on child rights and protection. The organization grew its constituency, and even other schools replicated the interventions that led to the formation of the larger La Filipina Child Network (LCFN).
The LCFN conducts advocacy training and lobbying to strengthen Osaec awareness and action at the SK Federation in Davao del Norte.