A way out

It is understandable that those who pursued the case against the couple who were convicted by a court for prostituting their children through their home-based cybersex business in Cordova town, Mactan Island in Cebu last Tuesday were all too happy about the ruling.

Still there is no small amount of curiosity and sympathy over what the children may have felt on learning that their parents will spend the remainder of their days in jail.

One of the rescued victims, now 18 years old, told Cebu Daily News last May that while she and her siblings didn’t harbor any ill feelings towards their parents they did know that what their parents did was wrong.

“What we’re going through as a family isn’t easy. But I believe there is a reason for everything. It’s up to us to give up or to move forward in life,” she said.

She said she may follow the example of one of her siblings, who now works as a volunteer for the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, by going back to their place and educate people about the cyberpornography menace.

Were that other victims of cyberpornography like her and her siblings be also rescued and given a new lease on life. As it now stands, they are not alone and based on available data, they won’t be the last children to be forced to undress and perform sexual acts before an online audience of sexual predators.

Of the 133 suspects caught for cyberpornography, 77 percent of them were parents, relatives and close family friends of the victims. And in the case of the Cordova couple, their cybersex trade was home-based which makes detection a bit difficult.

Thanks to advances in technology, purveyors need only a mobile device, a stable Wi-Fi connection and an online account to make money off their children who may or may not be totally aware that they are being violated.

Community vigilance is of utmost importance but what does one do if cyberpornography thrives within that community? This is where local officials, especially in the barangay level, can actively partner with the Church and other non-government organizations like the International Justice Mission (IJM) to crack down on this illegal trade.

The ruling against the Cordova couple may have come seven years too long but since it is the first successful prosecution of a cyberpornography case it will send the message that this crime will not be tolerated.

At the same time, stakeholders should also care for the victims and ensure a future where they can lead productive lives and like the children of the Cordova couple, also help teach others that there is a way out of their life of bondage.