DSWD-Davao: Most new online child sexual exploitation survivors this year are male

Male survivors made up most of the new cases of online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC) handled by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao Region (DSWD-Davao) this year, according to SunStar.

Of the 15 new survivors served from January to November 2026, nine were male, aged 15 to 24, and six were female, aged 2 to 14, based on DSWD-Davao data. Last year, 14 of the 16 new survivors were female, aged 5 to 18, while two were boys aged 14 and 15.

Fretzie Ann Ellyn Pallado, focal person of the agency's Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (RRPTP), presented the figures at the Kapehan sa Dabaw media forum at SM City Davao on Monday, Nov. 9. "Most of them are boys, because that is really the trend right now," she said in Cebuano.

This year's survivors came from Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte. Five are from Davao City, all male and aged 15 to 21.

Pallado said two of the alleged perpetrators or facilitators in this year's cases are known to the survivors, one of them a parent. She said this is the usual profile of suspects in current cases. The suspects face charges for alleged violations of the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

The survivors are in DSWD residential care facilities, receiving basic needs, psychosocial intervention and case management. Under the RRPTP, survivors and their families may also get financial, educational, livelihood and medical assistance, psychological first aid and temporary shelter.

DSWD-Davao has held advocacy campaigns in about 15 elementary and high schools this year in areas with the highest incidence of trafficking and OSAEC in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental, and is working with local governments to strengthen barangay-level councils against trafficking and violence against women and children.

Pallado added that illegal recruitment remains among the most common trafficking cases in the region. In October, the agency received victims allegedly recruited to go to Russia, supposedly to serve as soldiers.

In Davao City, Councilor Richlyn Justol-Baguilod proposed an ordinance in September to strengthen the Parent Effectiveness Service Program, the City Information Office reported. The city earlier passed City Ordinance No. 0194-26 prohibiting OSAEC and child sexual abuse or exploitation materials.

Marking National Children's Month, Pallado urged parents to know who their children interact with, guide their use of technology, and remember that what is inappropriate offline is also inappropriate online.