THE Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao region (DSWD-11) rescued a one-year-old child, said to be the youngest victim of trafficking in person.
DSWD 11 project development officer 3 Alma D. Acera said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw media forum Monday, November 19, that a one-year-old child has been rescued in Davao City from online sexual exploitation in July 2018.
"Children are being used in pornography, merong mga videos, photos, explicit sexual videos of children na nakita sa internet or ginabaligya sa online (It has videos, explicit photos, sexual videos of children that can be seen on the internet or sold online)," Acera said.
Deputy Regional Prosecutor Barbara Mae Flores said that the adoptive parents were the perpetrators in this case.
"Di naman biological parent yung nag exploit but the adoptive parent (they were not the biological parents but the adoptive parents),” she said. The adoption was not legal, she added.
Acero said they were looking into reports of an online adoption of children which is considered to be illegal. These illegal online adoptions are possible source of human trafficking among the children.
Meanwhile, Acero said sexual exploitation ranked as the top reasons for trafficking in person (TIP) in Davao Region. Since 2015, DSWD records showed that there have been a total of 65 victims of prostitution while there have been 15 victims of cyber pornography.
The second top reason for trafficking is forced labor, with 84 victims.
The rescued victims will be placed under the protective custody of DSWD while undergoing psychosocial intervention and their legal concerns are being processed.