00:01
Until very recently, nobody had heard of it.
00:05
GIRL
Ok, so you just show your boobs, and then I will send you money as soon as possible.
00:11 - 00:17
cut PTC
00:18
Today, the phenomenon of child webcam-sex is epidemic in the Philippines.
00:24
WOMAN
The next request will then be, can you show me your boobs and the other private body parts. And there it started. That they had sex online.
00:33 - 00:38
cut PTC
00:38
In the slums, internet cafes are the setting for these underage sex shows.
00:42
GIRL
The hardest thing was when he asked me to get naked, and stand facing the camera.
00:49
MAN IN SUIT
It's disgusting . Absolutely disgusting.
00:51
I'm concerned about their family situations, as well.
00:54 - 00:58
cut PTC
00:59
It's the same story for thousands of minors.
01:02
In front of the computer, the whole world's seen your vagina, the whole world has seen your bust, the whole world has seen your everything.
01:11
MAYOR
This is the place where the cyber-sex has been rampant. Here, here in this area.
POLICE ESCORT
This is the one... house...
MAYOR
That one.
01:23
The authorities recognize the extent of the problem. The police work alongside social workers in a combined effort to tackle it.
01:33 - 01:40
cut PTC
01:40
POLICE OFFICER
He got angry, and he told us to get out of his house.
01:46
Cordova, on the island of Cebu. The town was devastated last year by typhoon Haiyan.
01:53
The area is popular with Western sex-tourists, looking for cheaply available young women.
02:00
WOMAN
You don't want girls?
REPORTER
Sorry?
WOMAN
You don't want nice lady tonight?
02:05
But in recent years, it has become the capital of another kind of sex-tourism: online.
02:13
REPORTER
Wherever you go they have an internet cafe?
WOMAN
Yes, you can find it anywhere. If you have some pennies - like, one peso - you can already use the internet. If you just live in the area. And you can barely notice it, because it looks like a house only. This is one of those - the ones that we were talking about. So, it's one of the internets you can find within the area.
REPORTER
Even in the slums.
WOMAN
Yes. And you can find this little space. There are two to four, maybe five computer sets that you can find.
REPORTER
You don't have privacy over here, so here it can't be done... Or how do they do that?
WOMAN
Uh, sometimes they put some curtains...
REPORTER
Then they do their thing.
WOMAN
Yes.
02:57
Here, children sit in front of webcams while men on the other side of the globe entreat them to perform sexual acts.
03:07
If they comply, they are paid... Exploited at a distance.
03:18
MAYOR
Once this gentleman has cleaned it, we'll be on our way. It needs it!
03:26
The town's mayor has declared war on those who expose children to webcam sex abuse - a policy that has made her deeply unpopular. Only under police escort can she venture out into the neighbourhoods.
03:40
MAYOR
I need police protection because they think it is a raid. They do not want to go to jail or whatever, because precisely if there is a raid, then jail. You go to jail. So that's the reason.
REPORTER
That's the reason why you have police protection now.
MAYOR
Yeah, of course.
03:57
The mayor takes us to some residential areas where there has been a lot of police activity.
04:04
MAYOR
I used to be very popular here. But with what I'm doing - um, going against child cyber pornography - they don't like me.
04:19
MAYOR
Oh, they're all already in prison. The house is empty.
REPORTER
That is the house?
04:27
All around, you can see internet cafes and houses filled with computers.
04:35
MAYOR
What triggers most of the time when I really try to do my research was that 80%, here in Cordova, is internet-connected. So...
REPORTER
80%?
MAYOR
80%. And it turned out that mainly people... it's really for business.
04:52
MAYOR
Why aren't you in school?
CHILDREN
There is no class today.
MAYOR
But tomorrow, huh?
CHILDREN
Yeah.
04:59
MAYOR
You want to see the house of the... noted queen of cyberpornography?
REPORTER
Ok.
05:10
GUUSJE
Wherever you go, you have internet. Even in this cottage.
05:16
Watch out for the floorboard.
05:18
As a counter-measure, the Philippine authorities are collaborating with social workers and counsellors from the market's source countries.
05:26
GUUSJE
There's a little slot under here.
05:31
You just put a coin in and it works straight away.
05:35
And then you have 24 minutes' browsing time.
05:39
Guusje is a Dutch psychologist, here to interview victims of webcam sex abuse.
05:45
GUUSJE
It really has become an industry .
05:48
Though there is no physical contact involved, the effects of webcam sex on children are dramatic.
05:56
The findings of our study suggest the children
06:01
exhibit sexual behaviours not consistent with their age.
06:06
And these behaviours are similar to those seen in
06:10
children who are victims of prostitution
06:13
and survivors of sexual abuse.
06:18
Thus, it is very clear that even though there is no direct physical contact...
06:27
it still has acute psychological consequences for the child.
06:31
According to those working with victims, the problem is spiralling out of control. Every child appears to know somebody who earns money from it.
06:41
WOMAN
Ordinary children who are in school, and also wanting to access easy money, are also, you know, trying... exploring themselves to experience this cybersex and pornography. And then, of course, plus the parents tolerating some of the children to engage in this particular trade. It can be an epidemic.
07:07
GIRL
I was very scared. And I was ashamed, too.
INTERVIEWER
What were you ashamed of?
GIRL
I had to show him my naked body.
07:23
WOMAN
Can you see what it is?
07:28 -41
'Teen Dreamers Home' is just one of many shelters for children and teenagers who became victims of webcam exploitation at a young age. Here, they tell stories that parents should never have to hear.
07:41 - 07:47
cut PTC
07:47
GIRL
I saw his penis.
07:54
I didn't dare to look.
07:58
It was disgusting.
08:03
And I found it very very dirty.
08:06
OTHER GIRL
They showed to us their private parts.
08:11
It was awful, but it was money.
08:15
And I was willing to do anything for money.
08:20
This part of the centre houses the very youngest victims.
08:26
WOMAN
The youngest client that we have now in the Teen Dreamers Home is five years old. She is...
INTERVIEWER
Five years?
WOMAN
Five years old, yes. She is exposed to cybersex.
08:40
Carers from the centre scour the surrounding neighbourhoods on a daily basis to identify vulnerable children. It is often their own parents who encourage them to participate in webcam sex.
08:51
WOMAN
They really encourage their children to engage into cyberporno... cybersex and pornography... because there is no physical contact. So somehow it gives them the justification.
09:06
MAYOR
Ok, if both of you would lift me up... 1,2,3... Thank you!
09:13
The mayor takes us deep into the neighborhood.
09:19
MAYOR
And you can see how adjacent the houses are. If you notice, it's very difficult to do some raids.
09:29
Local residents complain that the mayor is harassing parents.
09:38
MAYOR
The first raid was done here. Now they are in jail - the parents. The children, they are in the centre.
INTERVIEWER
Because they were accused of cyber...
MAYOR
Child cyber pornography.
INTERVIEWER
And it was all being done in this house?
MAYOR
Yeah, it was done in this house.
INTERVIEWER
What did you see?
MAYOR
Um, the children - including the mother, who was into cyberpornography... It was three children, all girls, I think aged 11, 8, and 3. The youngest was three years old. And then they were just... they were so casual. They were just playing. Naked.
INTERVIEWER
Were you shocked when you saw it?
MAYOR
Of course. Because I thought it was just hear-say. And here is the only evidence that I need. So it was really true - that it really exists.
10:28
It was here her battle against child webcam sex began. Under her jurisdiction, extensive measures have been implemented to safeguard children: all computers must be registered, and there is a curfew in effect.
10:40
MAYOR
Yeah, we have curfew. Minors are not allowed to roam, to loiter, to wander in any public places here from 11 o'clock in the evening, up to 5 o'clock in the morning.
10:57
But all such efforts will be doomed to fail unless the perpetrators themselves are dealt with.
11:03
OPERATOR
I've made myself a ten-year-old Filipino girl.
11:07
Since I've been on this site, one , two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight men...
11:13
have all said they want to webchat with me .
11:16
They know I'm ten years old.
11:18
These are perfect places for criminals to access children online.
11:25
Because it's not monitored.
11:28
INTERVIEWER
You just sit there and let the requests roll in?
11:31
OPERATOR
Yes, they come in at a tremendous pace .
11:33
ALBERT JAAP VAN SANTBRINK (TERRE DES HOMMES)
We conceived the project
11:36
in response to the growing numbers of children becoming victims of webcam sex abuse.
11:43
We thought: how can we put an end to it?
11:48
And we came up with the idea of using a virtual girl ...
11:51
as a means of demonstrating the extent of this emerging problem.
11:56
Anonymous operators from the organisation 'Terres des Hommes' enter online chatrooms in the guise of teenage avatar, "Sweety". We have been allowed to observe this highly secretive enterprise.
12:07
OPERATOR
So far I've clicked on about 20, I think.
12:12
In all, more than 20,000 users have approached me.
12:18
Since it is a global phenomenon, there are always prospective clients.
12:23
And it is that clientèle that "Sweety" and her operators aim to expose.
12:30
ALBERT JAAP VAN SANTBRINK (TERRE DES HOMMES)
Men in the West have to realize that this is a criminal offence, and that they will be pursued.
12:36
We pass on our data to the police
12:39
and they could end up in prison if they are caught .
12:44 - 12:58
The Philippine police have set up a special unit to track down the proprietors of internet cafes used for the staging of underage sex shows. We get a tip-off about a Dutchman, suspected of recruiting children for intimate webchats.
12:58 - 13:02
(footage of police raid)
13:02 - 13:14
cut PTC
13:17
From this house, the suspect - known as Bart E - along with his Filipino partner, ran an internet chatroom, staging underage sex shows every night. The girls were told they would be doing housework.
13:28
WOMAN
According to the girls, they disclosed that they had to put off their clothes, and then they had to stay on their computer until 3 o'clock in the morning... and they are not allowed to talk to anybody else around, and they are not allowed to go outside anymore.
13:48
The children were housed in the middle of the countryside, some distance from the nearest town.
13:44
WOMAN
We're approaching the house of the Dutch national. This is it, this is the house.
14:04
The police responded to a call from a concerned teacher.
14:09
POLICE OFFICER
We were first alerted to what was going on here by the juvenile police.
14:16
We looked through all the surveillance material...
14:20
and concluded that there was evidence of illegal activity at this address...
14:28
hidden behind the curtains.
14:33
INTERVIEWER
So that nobody could see it.
POLICE OFFICER
Yes. So nobody on the outside could see what was going on.
14:40
And then we raided the premises.
14:45
WOMAN
The Dutch man reacted very wild, angry... shouting to the police, and also denying the allegation of his illegal activities.
INTERVIEWER
But that was very difficult because he was caught red-handed.
WOMAN
Yeah, he was caught with those customers online... with the girls. And also with the presence of all those computer units used in those illegal activities.
15:11
The computers were confiscated as evidence, and sent away for examination.
15:17
POLICE OFFICER
We're now examining the evidence from the house.
15:24
These are the computers that we seized during the search...
15:28
which were online at the time.
15:33
Hosting webchats with foreign men.
15:38
INTERVIEWER
You can see the foreigner here.
POLICE OFFICER
Yes. These are the western customers who were online for child webcam sex.
(IN ENGLISH)
So this is the Dutch man and his living partner, Melodie.
15:51
Pending a trial date, Bart E. is being held in this detention centre. If he is found guilty, a long prison sentence will await him. The Philippine judiciary views child webcam abuse as a crime of the utmost seriousness.
16:05
WOMAN
The Dutch national should die in jail.
INTERVIEWER
Should what?
WOMAN
Should die in jail.
INTERVIEWER
Really?
WOMAN
Because he is damaging the future of our youth, of our girls, and likewise, he is a threat to our economy. We have to put distance, or to put some barriers for the foreigners because maybe they are doing the same thing here with us.
16:36
Heavy as the penalties are, the Mayor of Cordova says they alone are not enough. The problem, she says, must be tackled at its roots: the flow of cash coming into the country from western clients.
16:49
MAYOR
Because if you stop sending money, definitely cyberpornography will be put to an end. Because this is money. It involves money. If you know this... No money from abroad, no cyber.
17:08 - End.