BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – Three more girls claimed they were victims of an online pornography syndicate and have sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Region 6.
Their coming forward to complain bolstered suspicions that such syndicate really exists, said NBI special investigator John Katipunan.
NBI has started investigating the case of a girl from this city whose nude photos were making the rounds of social media sites since last week.
Katipunan confirmed that this girl also sought NBI’s help. Her family claimed she was a victim of “sextortion.”
The three other girls gave statements to the NBI yesterday.
NBI expects more victims to surface.
From what the agency has so far gathered, Katipunan said, there were “more or less” 13 young women victims.
They were mostly students from 18 to 19 years old, he said.
The syndicate is based in the Visayas, revealed Katipunan, but he declined to give specific areas.
The syndicate peddles the girls’ photos to the United States, he added.
‘A FORM OF ABUSE’
The militant women’s group GABRIELA has expressed serious alarm over the online sexual exploitation of young women here.
“We consider such a form of abuse and a violation of women’s rights. We strongly condemn it,” said Roxanne Arsaga, GABRIELA-Iloilo chairperson.
She encouraged the victims to file charges against the culprits.
GABRIELA believes that the cases are rooted in poverty.
“It is sad. While poverty is getting worse, our women also become more vulnerable to abuses,” Arsaga said. “We have received much information about this. Some of them engage in sex in exchange for food and tuition, among others.”
As an organization that advocates women’s rights, Arsaga said, GABRIELA is willing to extend counseling and legal assistance to the victims.
She also advised women to be responsible and to do away with activities that might victimize them.
On the other hand, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 6 urged the community to report to them illegal activities victimizing women, especially young ones, into online prostitution.
“We will treat the information confidential,” Social Welfare Officer V, Rose San Agustin said.
There is a need to boost the advocacy campaigns against women abuse, child pornography and trafficking, she added./PN
