This is my paper presented to The Financial Crime Forum: Online - Focus on the Philippines on 18th February 2025 which is available at FinCrimeTV.

The Forum featured Neal Ysart speaking on investigations in the Philippines and the value and risks of OSINT and joining us for the discussion session on Corruption, Maria Victoria Roberto .

My paper, in English, is below and a translation, by the latest version of Grok, into Tagolog. 

View the Forum at FinCrimeTV: https://youtu.be/TRtg3wa1nAA

When I was in private practice, in both criminal defence and family law, bad sexual conduct was a fairly routine occurrence.

There was the man who made his wife get down on all fours so their Alsatian dog could have sex with her, the soldier working in the camp kitchen who had sex with frozen chickens, the workers in the Indian restaurant who ejaculated into bags of rice and the lovely and tiny young woman who sat in front of me and told me how her husband liked to insert oranges into her vagina and when I said "there isn't space in there for an orange" said, straight faced "he segments it first". But the case that upset me was that of the elderly man who stank of pee and sweat who was charged with the full unlawful carnal knowledge of a two year old.

Full Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

Long before the world started talking in terms of grooming and other nice soft terms, this odious man had met and befriended young single mothers in the local park and when they needed a baby sitter he volunteered. He was convicted of using his finger on several very young girls but we had medical evidence – which I and a team of doctors were satisfied with – that he was not capable of obtaining, much less maintaining, an erection. We put him through a series of tests over a period of weeks and the results were always the same. Our results were presented to the Court and he was convicted of the digital penetration but not of the rape. After conviction, literally in the cells beneath the Court, he said "Do you want me to tell you how I did it?"

The main reason I gave up doing criminal defence was that it was too easy but that case was instrumental in my decision: not only had the doctors been fooled but so had I and that had a negative effect on my attitude to defendants.

I think we tend to think that serious and serial sexual abusers are perverted dirty old men and he definitely fit that profile but none of the others did. If there had not been clear evidence of their conduct, no one would have suspected them.

Some years later, when financial crime started to be a thing, I wrote "How not to be a money launderer" and in that book I wrote about a very wide range of conduct that generates proceeds and I wrote about the potential liability of travel agents who were accepting payments to send men (it's usually men) abroad for sex tourism. It had been sparked by a report I'd seen about the work of Father O'Shea in Manila and as I looked at the subject I discovered that the routine abuse of children for profit was far wider than Manila and far wider than The Philippines. It was then that I began to tell bankers that they were receiving the money that travel agents were paid for arranging the trips undertaken by such perverts and that was criminal proceeds.

Sexual Perversion is endemic in all societies. 

I should say that I have had considerable criticism for referring to them as perverts: campaigners closely aligned to the UK's Labour Party which is now in power have, over the years, argued that having sex with young children is a compulsion and therefore an illness and therefore should not be a crime; others have boasted of their same-sex coupling with under-age boys and others have tried to get the age of consent reduced to 12 years. I say this because I don't want anyone to imagine that the problem in the Philippines and elsewhere is a developing world problem. In fact, it has long been a problem of abuse by first world men of poor children, albeit often through the agency of family members. It's an every world problem.

The perverts, I discovered, were most often from Germany, the USA, Australia and the UK. They tended, at that time, to be working class but middle income. In Cambodia, my son and I were at the hotel pool where I was teaching him to dive from the poolside when a large German sat a young girl on his knee and began to finger her.

But bad as it seemed, it was a far cry from what my research turned up. When I told bankers about it they tended to decide they didn't want to know about it or, indeed, anyone who would tell them about it.

I learned of the young boys in Manila, many less than ten, who were sold to visiting tourists for whatever service was demanded. The boys were paid one US dollar, which many never got to spend, left as they were, broken and battered, bleeding from places no child should ever suffer injury, in the gutter. Death was not unusual. Young girls didn't fare any better.

Over time, things improved dramatically. Then they didn't. 

Pornography is the exercise of voyeurism. The thrill comes not from active participation, at least not in the same room and not at the same time, as the activity being viewed. Pornography is not new: in fact, there is evidence of it in cave paintings from the earliest days of man. Technology has changed pornography. First static pictures became flickering images as cards rotated in a kind of sordid Rolodex. Then actual film was used. Here we are already at the end of the 19th Century.

Technology did not mutate for about a century: yes, the clarity of images and the introduction of sound and colour increased the quality of the experience but still if there was any wish for participation other than self-pleasure, that required some form of presence.

Until communications became more readily available. In the 1970s, pornography to order became more common. Perverts could send a letter containing a request with a payment order and someone would produce a film and mail it back. Much fuss was made of the existence of so-called "snuff movies" in which the victim would be killed for the camera.

We should not assume that this subject is consigned to the history books. Indeed, in 2023, an academic paper called Consuming Ghost Stories: The Spectre of Snuff Films is Haunting Canadian Obscenity, 2023 by Meg D Lonergan of the University of Winnipeg said "the spectre of the snuff film and its mythology is haunting Canadian obscenity law and that this is manifested in three interconnected anxieties:

1) that viewers, including police and other government officials, are unable to distinguish fictional representation and authentic recordings;

2) that regardless of whether material is real or fake, the influence of such materials is the same and thus relies upon and reproduces the media-effects narrative;

3) again reproducing anti-porn logics associated with the snuff film, that obscene content — whether real or fictional — that content is becoming increasingly sexually violent and thus must necessitate a natural progression to making snuff films real. 

In fact, the arguments are just what we have heard about the desensitivisation to violence, drugs taking, sexual abuse, smoking and, even, car theft. Some of you will remember the fuss over the apparent rape scene in one of the Grand Theft Auto video games. I'd rather call it normalisation. We get so used to seeing video of atrocities on the evening news that art has nowhere to go for shock value. And art should always be the safety valve the reminds us of what is shocking.

It's a difficult paper to read and I'll provide the link in the comments for anyone who wishes to read it and, importantly, to follow its logic.

https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2023CanLIIDocs2399#!fragment/zoupio-_Tocpdf_bk_0_1/BQCwhgziBcwMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoAvbRABwEtsBaAfX2zhoBMAzZgI1TMADMwCMASgA0ybKUIQAiokK4AntADkGyREJhcCJSvVadegyADKeUgCF1AJQCiAGScA1AIIA5AMJPJUjA+aFJ2cXEgA

Violence including sexual violence has been ordered, recorded and sold for more than half-a-century

I, however, rely on this: we have known that violence including sexual violence has been ordered, recorded and sold for more than half-a-century. Whether or not those orders included the deliberate killing of the victim is merely an additional layer of obscenity for obscenity is not only about sex, it's also about extreme violence committed for the gratification of others or oneself.

There is the same level of objection to a person filming himself abusing a (non-consenting) woman, child or animal and watching the film as there is to paying someone else to film it. It doesn't change the nature of the act, it just changes the number of people responsible.

So, what has changed and why are so many voices now being raised?

Is the law too segmented?

And are we serving the victims by creating ever more subdivisions of offences – would we be better to have the single offence of creating, trading in and possessing pornography and leave the question of the nature of that pornography to be considered at sentencing?

I don't know: my lawyer's brain says to keep the offences simple but my social awareness brain says we have to be clear what is and what is not acceptable and that, throughout the history of the control of pornography has been the crux of the matter. 

So, I would argue for a single pornography offence but to schedule specific conduct which, if proven, would be conclusive as to whether the material is pornographic. Sex with children and animals should be in that schedule as should violence to any person or animal.

You might wonder why I have added animals to this category. It's because there has been, for a while, a growing trend to commit acts of grave violence against animals and to film it and distribute it. It's considered an animal cruelty issue but if we include it with pornography we remove a complexity in the nature of evidence and investigations.

The nature of people has not changed but the barriers to entry have been reduced and, in some respects, removed. If we presume that the percentage of perverts who acted on their desires and impulses was constrained by lack of access to funds to create opportunity, the democratisation of both travel and communications has widened the opportunities to a much larger pool of perverts.

An increasing pool of perverts and of providers

It has also widened the opportunities to a much larger pool of providers.

In the mid 1990s, sex tourism in the Philippines took an especially awful turn with the violent, injurious and often deadly child sexual abuse. But as technology has developed and both internet and 5G communications, as well as mobile satellite internet, have become widely available, the systematic and equally abhorrent abuse of children and babies has mutated to the point where it is often a family business. Jailing parents who are at least complicit and at worst the organisers is barely denting the problem because babies are an infinitely renewable resource. Efforts to deter customers and prevent the money flow are made, in the Philippines and overseas but what was a problem in Manila's streets and dodgy hotels has gone nationwide; add in easy international money transfers and a concentrated industry is now fragmented across more than 7,500 islands and a large archipelago covering a total area of some 300,000 square kilometres, most of which is rural and much of which is isolated.

To concentrate first on the perverts: they can function because their orders and payments can hide in plain sight. Yes, when they are found, there is outrage but often the outrage is not justified. A couple of years ago, in Australia, the Commonwealth Bank was found, because tech was not properly set up, to have failed to make tens of thousands of reports that should have been made. Much was made of the fact that there were payments made to pay for the filming of child sexual abuse in The Philippines. It hit headlines and there was much synthetic rage and a vast amount of indignation. But out of all of those tens of thousands of transactions, the number relating to child sexual abuse was…. twelve. It is utterly naïve to suggest that twelve transactions would have, without question, been reported even if the bank's tech had been set up properly. The amounts? In each case, about 250 Aussie dollars paid by interbank transfer. There wasn't even an attempt to use a secondary payments service much less that other hobby-horse of those with loud voices, the dark web. 250 dollars is hardly a figure that would, of itself raise suspicion and, because of the way regulatory regimes are now operating, the focus is on the money almost to the exclusion of risk relating to the customer and his behaviour.

So, add to the list of why the prevalence of child sexual abuse material is growing: regulators are making payment services providers such as banks look in the wrong place.

All technology is used by criminals and weaponry, financial services and pornography are the first users of almost all new technology.

So, while when I started looking at this subject the primary technology had long been hand-held film and later video tape cameras, the technology has become more portable, more reliable and more high definition. If you are a Formula One Fan you can see exactly what I mean. Today, watching a race on TV seems almost anodyne but if you watch an official film from the 1970s it's much more exciting. And yet watch them side by side and the racing is just as much a matter of derring do and the car control just as on the limit, and sometimes over it, as it was then. The difference is the quality of the image. It's the opposite with pornography where the quality is everything. I have a hand-held, palm-size video camera that records in 4k. My phone records in clarity that my old much larger video did not come close to. So the recording technology has become compact and better and – importantly – something pretty much everyone has in their pocket.

How technology has affected demand and supply.

But it's the advent of streaming that has created the upturn in demand. There are three separate classifications of the relevant tech. The first is where someone creates an on-demand library: think Spotify for perverts. The second is where someone creates an online shop where images and videos can be downloaded to view later. The third is live action private or public viewing: ESPN for the most vile of humans.

The growth in the third category is fuelled by the availability of 5G communications. Now anyone can set up a studio anywhere, produce a video and let people watch it on Facebook or on a private server. We know that Facebook Live has hosted a number of particularly nasty events including mass murder.

The tail and the dog. 

So, while many are saying that the banks etc. have a special obligation to prevent the distribution of child sexual abuse material and more, the fact is that to make such demands is to expect the tail to wag the dog.

The problem is not the banks, nor any other provider of money services including crypto. The problem is the perverts who order and buy it and those who provide it.

Which brings us to those who provide it.

In the 1980s, in India, I found there was an entire industry of parents who would break their children's bones and set them at hideous angles then carry the broken bodies to busy places to beg. We might wonder how, in any society, parents can do that.

And yet …

There is clear evidence that in countries where there is significant poverty, of which The Philippines is an example but far from the only one, where mothers rent out or sell their children for sexual purposes.

The Selling and and renting out of children has a long history.

Let's be clear: the selling or renting out of children has been a way of life since ancient times. It was so ingrained in Chinese culture that it had a name that broadly represented itself as slavery. It persisted until less than 100 years ago in Hong Kong. And it's still happening all over the world today, even though it is illegal in most places. But contrary to what you might imagine, child labour is not illegal in much of the USA.

So, much as we are horrified by the stories of abuse, we also have to recognise that we are, in some ways, dealing with an extreme of a cultural norm.

It is common to think of child sexual abuse, from the provider's perspective, as being in some way different to other forms of child labour but in principle it's the same: it is our emotional reaction to is that causes the horror.

So, if we were to look at the root causes from the provider's perspective, they are poverty and the availability of the market.

Table d’hôte or à la carte?

There is one other aspect that does not receive enough attention: criminal gangs offer perverts a menu: a child with particular physical characteristics and specific forms of abuse.

Children are kidnapped to satisfy this demand where there is not a ready supply. What was once primarily a demand for small olive-skinned children has expanded: for example, black skin, blond hair, blue eyes or even the language the child might plead it can be specified, with the price reflecting the difficulty in meeting the demands.

Which brings the argument back to the reason we in the financial sector are part of both the problem and of the solution.

Someone is making payments and someone is collecting them and distributing them to the parents and/or the children. Those payments are, sometimes in money and often for tiny amounts – double figures in US or Aussie dollars or Euros for static photos. And often the currency is not money: swapping of material, static and motion, bought in or self-produced, is at the heart of many of the large collections that prosecutors find. Some are created by predators who live and work in communities for many years, grooming and abusing children and sometimes babies, getting jobs in religious groups, schools, sports teams and social work. Some are just pathetic lonely men sitting at home getting their jollies over the internet.

Money laundering reports are not a viable solution.

The money flows are usually invisible unless a thread is pulled for some other reason. We'd all like it to be possible to say "here, Mr Banker – go and play hunt the pervert and prevent the money flows" but it cannot be done.

So the problem is not going to be fixed by money laundering, etc. reports. How are you going to spot fifty dollars going in cash to a mother living in a slum who has just rented out her five year old son or daughter? You aren't and it's unreasonable to expect that to happen.

The issue has to be looked at from a different starting point: who is benefiting from the trade? The answer is communications companies, social media where advertising happens and internet service providers who allow pornographic material to be stored and/or transmitted through their servers.

Rich and Powerful - the corporations who take the money but deny their part.

But they are global and they are too powerful and they create systems that say they have no access to the material passing through their systems.

But the technology is there to scan all images that are uploaded and transmitted. It is not a question of cannot but of do not want to.

Yes, try to spot the money – no stone should be left unturned - but the real problem hasn't changed since I first looked at it in 1996: it's all about the transport, be it people or data. And specifically, it is not a single country issue.

All the efforts so far have been, and are being, focussed in the wrong place.

Noong nasa pribadong pagsasanay ako, sa parehong depensa sa krimen at batas ng pamilya, ang masamang gawaing sekswal ay medyo karaniwang pangyayari.

May isang lalaki na pinilit ang kanyang asawa na lumuhod sa lahat ng paa para makipagtalik sa kanilang asong Alsatian, isang sundalo na nagtatrabaho sa kusina ng kampo na nakipagtalik sa mga nagyeyelong manok, mga manggagawa sa restawran ng India na nagpalabas sa mga supot ng bigas, at ang maganda at maliit na batang babae na umupo sa harap ko at nagsabi kung paano gustong-gusto ng kanyang asawa na magpasok ng mga dalandan sa kanyang ari, at nang sabihin ko na "walang espasyo diyan para sa dalandan," sinabi niya nang seryoso, "pinaghihiwalay niya muna ito." Pero ang kaso na nagpagulo sa akin ay ang matandang lalaki na amoy ihi at pawis na sinampahan ng buong hindi lehitimong kaalaman sa katawan ng isang dalawang taong gulang.

Matagal bago nagsimulang mag-usap ang mundo tungkol sa grooming at iba pang magiliw na malalambot na termino, nakilala at naging kaibigan ng karumal-dumal na lalaking ito ang mga batang ina na walang asawa sa lokal na parke, at nang kailanganin nila ng tagabantay ng bata, nagboluntaryo siya. Nahatulan siya ng paggamit ng kanyang daliri sa ilang napakabatang babae, pero may ebidensiyang medikal – na kami ng isang grupo ng mga doktor ay nasiyahan – na hindi siya kayang magkaroon, lalo na mapanatili, ng ereksyon. Pinagdaanan natin siya sa serye ng mga pagsubok sa loob ng ilang linggo at pareho lang ang resulta. Ipinakita ang aming mga resulta sa Hukuman at nahatulan siya ng digital na pagpasok ngunit hindi ng panggagahasa. Matapos mahatulan, literal na sa mga selda sa ilalim ng Hukuman, sinabi niya, "Gusto mo bang sabihin ko sa’yo kung paano ko ginawa?"

Ang pangunahing dahilan kung bakit tumigil ako sa pagiging depensa sa krimen ay dahil masyado itong madali, pero ang kasong iyon ang naging mahalaga sa aking desisyon: hindi lang ang mga doktor ang naloko, kundi pati na rin ako, at negatibo ang naging epekto nito sa aking saloobin sa mga hinintay.

Sa tingin ko, madalas nating iniisip na ang mga seryoso at serial na sekswal na nang-aabuso ay mga baluktot na maruruming matatandang lalaki, at tiyak na bagay siya sa profil na iyon, pero wala sa iba ang ganoon. Kung walang malinaw na ebidensiya ng kanilang gawain, walang mag-aakala sa kanila.

Ilang taon pagkatapos, nang nagsimulang maging usapin ang krimen sa pananalapi, nagsulat ako ng "Paano Hindi Maging Money Launderer" at sa aklat na iyon, isinulat ko ang napakalawak na saklaw ng gawain na bumubuo ng kita, at isinulat ko ang potensyal na pananagutan ng mga ahente ng paglalakbay na tumatanggap ng bayad para magpadala ng mga lalaki (kadalasan ay lalaki) sa ibang bansa para sa sekswal na turismo. Na-spark ito ng ulat na nakita ko tungkol sa gawain ni Father O’Shea sa Maynila, at habang tinitignan ko ang paksa, natuklasan ko na ang rutinang pang-aabuso sa mga bata para sa kita ay mas malawak kaysa sa Maynila, higit pa sa Maynila. Noon ko sinimulang sabihin sa mga bangkero na tinatanggap nila ang pera na binayaran sa mga ahente ng paglalakbay para sa mga biyaheng ginagawa ng mga ganitong perbertido, at iyon ay kita mula sa krimen.

Dapat kong sabihin na nakatanggap ako ng malaking kritisismo sa pagtawag sa kanila bilang mga perbertido: mga kampanya na malapit sa Labour Party ng UK, na ngayon ay nasa kapangyarihan, ay matagal nang nanindigan na ang pakikipagtalik sa mga batang anak ay isang kompulsyon at samakatuwid ay sakit, at samakatuwid ay hindi dapat ituring na krimen; ang iba ay nagyabang tungkol sa kanilang parehong-kasarian na pakikipagtalik sa mga menor de edad na lalaki, at ang iba ay nagsikap na babaan ang edad ng pahintulot sa 12 taon. Sinasabi ko ito dahil ayaw kong isipin ninuman na ang problema sa Pilipinas at iba pang lugar ay problema ng umuunlad na mundo. Sa katunayan, matagal na itong problema ng pang-aabuso ng mga lalaki mula sa unang mundo sa mahihirap na bata, kahit na madalas sa pamamagitan ng ahensiya ng mga miyembro ng pamilya. Problema ito ng bawat mundo.

Ang mga perbertido, natuklasan ko, ay kadalasan mula sa Germany, USA, Australia, at UK. Noong panahong iyon, sila ay kadalasang working class pero may katamtamang kita. Sa Cambodia, kasama ko ang anak ko sa pool ng hotel kung saan tinuturuan ko siyang sumisid mula sa gilid ng pool nang umupo ang isang malaking Aleman ng isang batang babae sa kanyang kandungan at sinimulang daliriin siya.

Ngunit kahit gaano kalala ito, malayo pa rin ito sa natuklasan ng aking pananaliksik. Nang sabihin ko ito sa mga bangkero, madalas nilang napagpasyahan na ayaw nilang malaman ito o kahit sino mang magsasabi sa kanila tungkol dito.

Nalaman ko ang tungkol sa mga batang lalaki sa Maynila, marami sa kanila ay wala pang sampung taon, na ibinenta sa mga turistang bumibisita para sa anumang serbisyong hinihiling. Binayaran ang mga bata ng isang dolyar ng US, na marami sa kanila ay hindi na nagastos, iniwan silang basag at bugbog, dumudugo mula sa mga lugar na hindi dapat sinaktan ang isang bata, sa kanal. Hindi bihira ang kamatayan. Hindi rin mas maganda ang lagay ng mga batang babae.

Sa paglipas ng panahon, bumuti nang husto ang mga bagay.

Pagkatapos ay hindi na. Ang pornograpiya ay ang pagsasagawa ng voyeurism. Ang kilig ay hindi nanggagaling sa aktibong pakikilahok, hindi bababa sa parehong silid at hindi sa parehong oras, kundi sa aktibidad na pinapanood. Hindi bago ang pornograpiya: sa katunayan, may ebidensiya nito sa mga pintura sa kuweba mula sa pinakamaagang araw ng tao. Binago ng teknolohiya ang pornograpiya. Una, ang mga static na larawan ay naging mga kumikislap na imahe habang umiikot ang mga kard sa isang uri ng maruming Rolodex. Pagkatapos ay ginamit ang aktwal na pelikula. Narito na kami sa dulo ng ika-19 na siglo.

Hindi nagbago ang teknolohiya nang halos isang siglo: oo, ang kalinawan ng mga imahe at ang pagdaragdag ng tunog at kulay ay nagpabuti sa kalidad ng karanasan, ngunit kung may nais na pakikilahok maliban sa sariling kasiyahan, kinakailangan pa rin ng ilang uri ng presensya.

Hanggang sa naging mas madaling maabot ang komunikasyon. Noong dekada 1970, naging mas karaniwan ang pornograpiya ayon sa order. Maaaring magpadala ang mga perbertido ng liham na naglalaman ng kahilingan kasama ng order ng bayad, at may gagawa ng pelikula at ipapadala ito pabalik. Malaking usapan ang ginawa tungkol sa pag-iral ng tinatawag na "snuff movies" kung saan papatayin ang biktima para sa kamera.

Hindi natin dapat isipin na ang paksang ito ay natapos na sa mga aklat ng kasaysayan. Sa katunayan, noong 2023, isang akademikong papel na tinawag na Consuming Ghost Stories: The Spectre of Snuff Films is Haunting Canadian Obscenity ni Meg D Lonergan ng University of Winnipeg ang nagsabi na "ang multo ng snuff film at ang mitolohiya nito ay bumabalot sa batas ng kabastusan ng Canada at ito ay nahahayag sa tatlong magkakaugnay na pagkabahala:

1. na ang mga manonood, kasama ang pulisya at iba pang opisyal ng gobyerno, ay hindi kayang makilala ang kathang-isip na representasyon at tunay na mga pag-record;
2. na kahit totoo o peke ang materyal, pareho ang impluwensya ng mga ganitong materyal at kaya umaasa at nagpaparami ng salaysay ng epekto ng media;
3. muli, na nagpaparami ng lohika laban sa pornograpiya na nauugnay sa snuff film, na ang kabastusang nilalaman – totoo man o kathang-isip – ay nagiging mas marahas sa sekswal at kaya dapat na humantong sa natural na pag-unlad tungo sa paggawa ng tunay na snuff films."

Sa katunayan, ang mga argumento ay katulad lang ng narinig natin tungkol sa desensitibasyon sa karahasan, pag-inom ng droga, sekswal na pang-aabuso, paninigarilyo, at kahit pagnanakaw ng sasakyan. Ang ilan sa inyo ay maaalala ang gulo tungkol sa tila panggagahasa na eksena sa isa sa mga laro ng Grand Theft Auto. Mas gusto ko itong tawaging normalisasyon. Sanay na sanay na tayo sa pagkakita ng video ng mga kalupitan sa balita sa gabi kaya wala nang mapupuntahan ang sining para sa shock value. At ang sining ay dapat palaging maging balbula ng kaligtasan na nagpapaalala sa atin kung ano ang nakakabigla.

Mahirap basahin ang papel na ito at ibibigay ko ang link sa mga komento para sa sinumang nais basahin ito at, mahalaga, sundin ang lohika nito.

https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2023CanLIIDocs2399#!fragment/zoupio-_Tocpdf_bk_0_1/BQCwhgziBcwMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoAvbRABwEtsBaAfX2zhoBMAzZgI1TMADMwCMASgA0ybKUIQAiokK4AntADkGyREJhcCJSvVadegyADKeUgCF1AJQCiAGScA1AIIA5AMJPJUjA+aFJ2cXEgA

Upang tumutok muna sa mga perbertido: kaya nilang gumana dahil ang kanilang mga order at bayad ay maaaring magtago nang hayagan. Oo, kapag natuklasan sila, may galit, ngunit madalas ay hindi makatwiran ang galit na iyon. Ilang taon na ang nakalipas, sa Australia, natuklasan na ang Commonwealth Bank, dahil hindi maayos ang pagkaka-set up ng teknolohiya, ay nabigong gumawa ng milyon-milyong ulat na dapat ay naisumite. Malaking isyu ang ginawa sa katotohanan na may mga bayad na ginawa para sa pagkuha ng pelikula ng sekswal na pang-aabuso sa bata sa Pilipinas. Naging headline ito at maraming gawa-gawang galit at napakalaking indignasyon ang naroon. Ngunit sa lahat ng milyon-milyong transaksyong iyon, ang bilang na nauugnay sa sekswal na pang-aabuso sa bata ay... labindalawa. Napakasimple na magmungkahi na ang labindalawang transaksyon ay walang dudang naiulat kahit pa maayos ang teknolohiya ng bangko. Ang mga halaga? Sa bawat kaso, mga 250 dolyar ng Australia na binayaran sa pamamagitan ng interbank transfer. Wala man lang pagtatangka na gumamit ng pangalawang serbisyo ng bayad, lalo na ang madalas na pinag-uusapan ng mga malalakas ang boses, ang dark web. Ang 250 dolyar ay hindi talaga halagang magtataas ng hinala sa sarili nito, at dahil sa paraan ng pagpapatakbo ng mga regulasyong rehimen ngayon, ang pokus ay nasa pera halos hindi kasama ang panganib na nauugnay sa kostumer at sa kanyang pag-uugali.

Kaya, idagdag sa listahan kung bakit lumalaganap ang materyal ng sekswal na pang-aabuso sa bata: ang mga regulator ay pinapatingin ang mga tagapagbigay ng serbisyo ng bayad tulad ng mga bangko sa maling lugar.

Lahat ng teknolohiya ay ginagamit ng mga kriminal, at ang mga sandata, serbisyong pinansyal, at pornograpiya ang unang gumagamit ng halos lahat ng bagong teknolohiya.

Kaya, noong sinimulan ko itong tingnan, ang pangunahing teknolohiya ay matagal nang hand-held film at kalaunan ay mga video tape camera, ngunit naging mas portable, mas maaasahan, at mas high-definition ang teknolohiya. Kung fan ka ng Formula One, makikita mo nang eksakto kung ano ang ibig kong sabihin. Ngayon, ang panonood ng karera sa TV ay parang ordinaryo na, ngunit kung panoorin mo ang opisyal na pelikula mula dekada 1970, mas kapanapanabik ito. Ngunit panoorin mo sila nang magkatabi, at ang karera ay parehong puno ng kagitingan at ang kontrol sa sasakyan ay parehong nasa limitasyon, at kung minsan ay lampas pa, tulad noong una. Ang pagkakaiba ay ang kalidad ng imahe. Kabaligtaran ito sa pornograpiya kung saan ang kalidad ang lahat. Mayroon akong hand-held, palm-size na video camera na nagrerekord sa 4K. Ang aking telepono ay nagrerekord sa kalinawan na hindi man lang malapit sa aking dating mas malaking video. Kaya naging compact at mas mahusay ang teknolohiya ng pagre-record – at mahalaga – isang bagay na halos nasa bulsa ng lahat.

Ngunit ang pagdating ng streaming ang lumikha ng pagtaas sa demand. May tatlong magkakahiwalay na klasipikasyon ng kaugnay na teknolohiya. Ang una ay kung saan gumagawa ang isang tao ng on-demand library: isipin ang Spotify para sa mga perbertido. Ang pangalawa ay kung saan gumagawa ang isang tao ng online shop kung saan maaaring i-download ang mga imahe at video para panoorin mamaya. Ang pangatlo ay live action private o public viewing: ESPN para sa pinakakasuklam-suklam na tao.

Ang paglago sa pangatlong kategorya ay pinalakas ng pagkakaroon ng 5G na komunikasyon. Ngayon, kahit sino ay maaaring mag-set up ng studio kahit saan, gumawa ng video, at hayaang panoorin ito ng mga tao sa Facebook o sa isang pribadong server. Alam natin na ang Facebook Live ay nagho-host ng ilang partikular na masasamang pangyayari kabilang ang mass murder.

Kaya, habang marami ang nagsasabi na ang mga bangko atbp. ay may espesyal na obligasyon na pigilan ang pamamahagi ng materyal ng sekswal na pang-aabuso sa bata at higit pa, ang katotohanan ay ang hilingin ito ay parang asahan na ang buntot ang magpapagalaw sa aso.

Ang problema ay hindi ang mga bangko, ni ang ibang tagapagbigay ng serbisyo ng pera kasama na ang crypto. Ang problema ay ang mga perbertido na umoorder at bumibili nito at ang mga nagbibigay nito.

Na nagdadala sa atin sa mga nagbibigay nito.

Noong dekada 1980, sa India, natuklasan ko na may buong industriya ng mga magulang na bumabali ng buto ng kanilang mga anak at inilalagay ang mga ito sa mga kakila-kilabot na anggulo, pagkatapos ay dinadala ang mga basag na katawan sa mga mataong lugar para mamalimos. Maaaring magtaka tayo kung paano, sa anumang lipunan, magagawa iyon ng mga magulang.

At gayunpaman…

May malinaw na ebidensiya na sa mga bansang may malaking kahirapan, kung saan ang Pilipinas ay isang halimbawa ngunit malayo sa nag-iisa, kung saan ang mga ina ay nagrerenta o nagbebenta ng kanilang mga anak para sa layuning sekswal.

Maging malinaw tayo: ang pagbebenta o pagrenta ng mga anak ay naging paraan ng pamumuhay mula pa noong sinaunang panahon. Napakalalim nito sa kulturang Tsino na may pangalan ito na malawakang kumakatawan sa pagkaalipin. Nagpatuloy ito hanggang wala pang 100 taon ang nakalipas sa Hong Kong. At nangyayari pa rin ito sa buong mundo ngayon, kahit na labag ito sa batas sa karamihan ng lugar. Ngunit salungat sa maaaring isipin mo, ang child labour ay hindi labag sa batas sa maraming bahagi ng USA.

Kaya, kahit na nabibigla tayo sa mga kwento ng pang-aabuso, kailangan din nating kilalanin na, sa ilang paraan, hinaharap natin ang isang matinding anyo ng kultural na pamantayan.

Karaniwan na isipin ang sekswal na pang-aabuso sa bata, mula sa pananaw ng nagbibigay, bilang isang bagay na naiiba sa iba pang anyo ng child labour, ngunit sa prinsipyo ay pareho ito: ang ating emosyonal na reaksyon dito ang nagdudulot ng takot.

Kaya, kung titingnan natin ang mga ugat na dahilan mula sa pananaw ng nagbibigay, ito ay kahirapan at ang pagkakaroon ng merkado.

May isa pang aspeto na hindi sapat ang natatanggap na pansin: ang mga kriminal na gang ay nag-aalok sa mga perbertido ng menu: isang bata na may partikular na pisikal na katangian at mga tiyak na anyo ng pang-aabuso.

Dinudukot ang mga bata upang matugunan ang demand na ito kung saan wala nang handang supply. Kung ano ang dating pangunahin na demand para sa maliliit na batang may kulay oliba ay lumawak na: halimbawa, itim na balat, blond na buhok, asul na mata, o kahit ang wika na maaaring magmalasakit ang bata ay maaaring tukuyin, kasama ang presyo na sumasalamin sa kahirapan sa pagtugon sa mga hinihiling.

Na nagbabalik sa argumento sa dahilan kung bakit kami sa sektor ng pananalapi ay bahagi ng parehong problema at solusyon.

May nagbabayad at may kumokolekta nito at namamahagi sa mga magulang at/o mga bata. Ang mga bayad na iyon ay, minsan sa pera at madalas sa maliit na halaga – doblehin ang mga numero sa dolyar ng US o Aussie o Euro para sa mga static na larawan. At madalas ang pera ay hindi pera: ang pagpapalitan ng materyal, static at gumagalaw, binili o ginawa ng sarili, ay nasa puso ng maraming malalaking koleksyon na natutuklasan ng mga prosecutor. Ang ilan ay nilikha ng mga mandaragit na nakatira at nagtatrabaho sa mga komunidad nang maraming taon, nanggugulo at nang-aabuso sa mga bata at kung minsan ay mga sanggol, nakakakuha ng trabaho sa mga relihiyosong grupo, paaralan, mga koponan ng palakasan, at gawaing panlipunan. Ang iba ay mga kaawa-awang nag-iisang lalaki na nakaupo sa bahay at nagpapakasaya sa internet.

Ang mga daloy ng pera ay karaniwang hindi nakikita maliban kung may ibang dahilan na hinila ang sinulid. Gusto nating lahat na masabi na "dito, Ginoong Bangkero – pumunta ka at maghanap ng perbertido at pigilan ang mga daloy ng pera," ngunit hindi ito magagawa.

Kaya ang problema ay hindi maaayos sa pamamagitan ng mga ulat tungkol sa money laundering, atbp. Paano mo makikita ang limampung dolyar na cash na pupunta sa isang ina na nakatira sa slum na k才renta lang ng kanyang limang taong gulang na anak na lalaki o babae? Hindi mo makikita at hindi makatwiran na asahan iyon.

Ang isyu ay kailangang tingnan mula sa ibang panimulang punto: sino ang nakikinabang sa kalakalan? Ang sagot ay mga kumpanya ng komunikasyon, social media kung saan nangyayari ang advertising, at mga internet service provider na nagpapahintulot na maiimbak at/o maipasa ang pornograpikong materyal sa kanilang mga server.

Ngunit sila ay pandaigdigan at masyadong makapangyarihan at gumagawa sila ng mga sistema na nagsasabing wala silang access sa materyal na dumadaan sa kanilang mga sistema.

Ngunit naroon ang teknolohiya upang i-scan ang lahat ng imahe na ina-upload at ipinapadala. Hindi ito tanong ng hindi kaya kundi ng ayaw.

Oo, subukang tuklasin ang pera – walang batong dapat iwanang hindi nababali – ngunit ang tunay na problema ay hindi nagbago mula noong una ko itong tiningnan noong 1996: lahat ito ay tungkol sa transportasyon, maging tao o data. At partikular na, hindi ito isyu ng iisang bansa.

Lahat ng pagsisikap hanggang ngayon ay nakatutok, at patuloy na nakatutok, sa maling lugar.