THE Gabriela Women’s Party on Monday led the filing of a resolution seeking congressional inquiry on the alarming cases of gender-based violence (GBV) and online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).
House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas, the group’s nominee in the House of Representatives, filed Resolution No. 1632 in the wake of technological advancements and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Citing the records of the Philippine National Police Crime Incident Reporting and Analysis System (PNP-CIRAS), Brosas said there were 19,635 cases of violence against women and children from January to August 2023, which translates to 92 female victims of violence per day in the first 8 months of 2023
“Women and children become even more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, as mobile applications that create simulations of seemingly real women, including replicating their facial and body structures have become rampant in social media,” Brosas said.
“We’ve received reports of mobile apps on Facebook and other social media platforms promoting sexual innuendos and objectifying women. These apps normalize harmful attitudes and fuel gender-based violence and exploitation,” she added.
Brosas noted in the resolution that the country is still a global hot spot for financially motivated development of live-streamed child sexual exploitation, with foreign sex offenders paying Philippine-based traffickers as little as twenty-five dollars to participate in online sexual abuse of children
“Simulations nowadays look very realistic, possibly created from real photos of women and young girls. This raises serious concerns about privacy breaches and highlights the risk of these apps being used for harmful purposes like impersonation or harassment,” Brosas said.
Two years have passed since the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act (Republic Act 11930) and the law raising the age for statutory rape (Republic Act No. 11648) were enacted. However, the proposed expansion of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (Republic Act 9262) to address technology-related harm to women and children is still pending.
“Current legislation fails to address technological advancements in exploiting and abusing women and children. We urge the government to review, amend, and create laws to respond to these advancements and ensure justice for victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse,” she added.
HR 1632 was co-authored by Brosas’s fellow members of the Makabayan Bloc, Reps. France Castro of ACT Teachers and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan.