THE COMMISSION on Human Rights urged the government to boost its efforts in preventing child abuse and exploitation.

CHR Spokesperson Jacquelin de Guia made the pronouncement as the country marked Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Week.

“Worsening socio-economic factors, which undoubtedly have been affected by the pandemic, has led to an alarming increase of child abuse and sexual exploitation,” De Guia said.

“It is alarming that, in contrast to the economic slump the Philippines is currently experiencing, there has been an observable doubling of suspicious transactions involving child pornography,” she added.

De Guia cited a study by the Anti-Money Laundering Council which reported an increase in financial transactions linked to online sexual exploitation of children.

According to the report, there were 27,217 OSEC-related transactions from January to June 2020 —2.5 times more than the 10,627 reported in 2019.

This report substantiates the findings of the Department of Justice that OSEC-linked transactions rose by 264 percent.

De Guia stressed the need to continue providing psychosocial services, health, and financial aid to protect young individuals from being lured into online exploitation as means to provide for themselves and their families.

“Child exploitation reflects a failure to protect the most vulnerable. The marginalized sector, now more than ever, needs the government’s utmost protection in unprecedented times like this,” she said.