P282M earmarked for Saferkidsph

The Australian government has earmarked some P282 million to combat the online sexual exploitation of children through Saferkidsph, an ambitious partnership between public and private sector groups meant to raise awareness, tackle gaps in law enforcement and lobby for policy changes that might finally put a dent into the growing online abuse of children. “Online sexual exploitation and abuse of children is a crime that transcends territorial jurisdictions,” Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven J. Robinson said at Tuesday’s launch of the Saferkids program in Makati City. The Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime received 600,000 reports of child abuse committed online in 2018, a steep uptick from just 45,645 reports, or “cybertips,” in 2017. And while half of Filipino children aged 13 to 17 in 2018 experienced online violence, according to the National Baseline Survey on Violence Against Children, the Philippines’ Inter-agency Council Against Trafficking has only handed down 32 convictions since 2017. The six-year Saferkids initiative, headed by the Australian government, will be executed by a broad alliance that includes Unicef, Save the Children Philippines and the Asia Foundation together with Philippine agencies such as the education and social welfare departments, the justice department and the Philippine National Police.