Cascading calamities

Stay home, stay safe. This has been the mantra during the COVID-19 pandemic as citizens are asked to stay home in order to protect themselves and others from COVID-19 that has infected millions of people all over the world. But this is not the case for everyone. For some, their homes may be the very place where they are the least safe as they are constantly being abused and exploited.

According to the WHO, violence against the vulnerable increases in the wake of disasters. This includes violence against spouses, women, and children, which can take the form of actual beatings, sexual abuse or exploitation, or human trafficking. Online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) is the leading cybercrime in the Philippines and the Philippines was identified by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as  the top global source of online sexual abuse materials.

Since the implementation of the lockdown the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children  has reported a marked increase of incidents of apparent child sexual exploitation in the Philippines. Unfavorable factors during the quaratine period may have caused the increase in the incidence of OSEC. On the demand side, sexual predators are now more vicious as they have all the time to spend online while on lockdown; while on the supply side abusers have more reason to supply child sexual exploitation material since the children are just at home and they are in dire need of money because of the loss of income.

For domestic abuse and exploitation, lockdowns cut off avenues of escape for the abused, and provide their abusers with access to their victims almost 24/7. But the intersection between disasters and an increase in abuse and exploitation has a lot to do with the root causes of these crimes. One major factor that triggers abuse on the part of the abusers is the presence of stressors, and the pandemic has brought with it an entire host of them. There is the ever present fear of infection, both for oneself and one’s family; the feelings of grief and despair from having lost loved ones; the difficulty of finding necessities such as food and medicine during the quarantine; and the economic stressors that come from being unable to earn a living or from business losses suffered from the shutdown. Without minimizing in any way individual culpability of abusers, the more stressors there are, the more likely it is that they will engage in abusive behavior.

And these stressors are not only felt by the abusers – they are experienced by, and worsen the condition of, the vulnerable. The poor will have become poorer, the sick and infirm more endangered than before. A woman who may have had the luxury to weigh her decisions carefully may not be able to do so now that she urgently needs money for her family and she may end up making choices that she otherwise would not have made.

Many organizations are already sounding the alarm about the dangers that COVID-19 poses for the vulnerable. The New York Times published an article that suggests that “domestic abuse is acting like an opportunistic infection, flourishing in the conditions created by the pandemic.” The article notes that in both China and Spain – nations that imposed lockdowns to deal with the spread of COVID-19, reports of domestic violence surged.

Aside from the WHO, the Polaris Project (which operates the US National Human Trafficking Hotline) has stated that it is “worried that the economic effects of this virus will increase some of the vulnerabilities that make people susceptible to sex and labor trafficking in the first place” and that layoffs and economic pressures will cause a rise in those forced to take exploitative jobs and be trapped in precarious situations.

Some may be placed in those situations without even being removed from their homes. The WHO has issued a statement that emphasized the vulnerability of children during lockdowns, and noted heightened risks of online harm. The Council of Europe echoed the sentiment, stating that the increased online presence of children means that “sexual offenders are taking advantage of this situation and more children are likely to be groomed online and become victims of sexual extortion, cyber-bullying or other sexual exploitation.”In fact, the International Justice Mission based here in the Philippines has relayed data from international police organizations that show an increase in online child sexual exploitation since COVID-19 lockdowns, specifically “on-demand, child sexual abuse and exploitation that is being livestreamed from traffickers in the Philippines to child sex offenders around the world, primarily in Western countries.”

Our children are being sold out while the world stands still. Even as we battle COVID-19, our other enemies remain, and protecting our most vulnerable requires immediate action. The government through the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) continues to work through every available avenue in order to curtail human trafficking, including OSEC, especially during this most critical time. In spite of the additional responsibilities of some IACAT member agencies during this national health emergency, like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or the Philippine National Police (PNP), the government is more determined and is working harder to fight human trafficking.

Just this week the relevant IACAT member agencies and organizations have met with Facebook in order to ensure that the channels for reporting of online abuse are open and the referral mechanisms are operational. A communications campaign is being undertaken to increase awareness about the heightened risk of the incidence of OSEC during the lockdown and to inform the public about how to report cases. One who has information about OSEC or human trafficking may call the IACAT action line 1343.

Cognizant of the increased threat, Joint Memorandum Circular 2020-01, dated 6 April 2020 was also issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Council for the Welfare of Children to local government units and relevant agencies reiterating the protocols for children at risk and needing special protection during the quarantine period. Law enforcement agencies are ready for rescue operations and have in fact conducted some during the lockdown. Reintegration services are also unhampered.

COVID-19 does not exist in a vacuum. It has caused a cascade of calamities that disproportionately affect the more vulnerable. If we are to protect them, we must always be aware that this is a fight on multiple fronts and just like the fight against COVID-19, this is a fight we will win.