How do we protect our children?



Last month, photos of an innocent-looking young girl splashed the headlines of local newspapers.  It turned out to be Liezyl Margallo, 23, who has sixteen (16) pending warrants of arrests and is facing charges on human trafficking, anti-photo and video voyeurism, and the anti-child abuse act.  Most of the victims were street children and children from families too large for parents to support.  They were promised a better life for their children once adopted.  Instead, the children face horrendous acts of violence.

More recently, I was shocked to learn about a 4-month baby girl treated for lacerations on her genitals due to rape.  This was all over the news that day.

A few years back, I remember an international organization from the Netherlands called Terre des Hommes (TDH) created a digital ten-year old Filipino girl named Sweetie to entrap pedophiles engaging in webcam child sex tourism.

There are also a number of videos on youtube.com which show the situation of child prostitution in the Philippines.

Children have intrinsic rights to survival, protection, development and participation.  Abuse is no longer face to face as in prostitution.  Children are virtually raped and become mentally wounded.  Perpetuators now use high technology to reach their victims.  How do we protect our children’s rights?

What are the factors involved in child sexual abuse?
In what ways can we promote internet safety to protect our children?
How do we use social media to protect our children from sexual abuse?


Are there answers to these questions? 

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