“Did you know that there is a very high probability that your kid has talked to or is talking to an online predator and you’re not aware of it?”
This is what Catherine Scerri, Executive Director of children’s rights organization Bahay Tuluyan wants parents to know. Founded on the premise of fulfilling Filipino children’s rights by preventing and responding to abuse and violence against children, the non-profit group recently launched a short online video that explains just how predators are currently doing this—through the use of emojis.
“Every day, around 500,000 predators try to befriend kids online via social media and gaming sites,” Scerri adds. “They pretend to be kids and use emojis as a way to get close our children and abuse them; get images of their private parts or even get them to perform sexual acts.
This is why we came up with this campaign. We want parents to be aware of this very real danger so that they may take necessary actions to prevent or properly respond to it.”
The video was created in partnership with multi-awarded communications agency, TBWA\ Santiago Mangada Puno. Ultimately, it aims to help decrease cases of child sexual abuse by educating parents of this new trend.
Reflecting what’s actually happening in the real world, it depicts how predators are able to use vulnerable moments in kids’ life to take advantage of them. One scene shows how–after being bullied–a kid is befriended by an eggplant emoji. Another one showcases how a seemingly innocent live stream can serve as an avenue for perpetrators to befriend unsuspecting kids.
Emojis were originally created to make communicating with friends and family online a lot more fun, but through time, these icons have been given different meanings. For instance, the eggplant emoji is now used to refer to the male genitalia, the peach is now usually used to refer to buttocks, corn as a substitute for porn, and sweat drops can now be used to express orgasm.
PH a Hotspot for Child Abuse Online
According to an article released last September, the Scale of Harm prevalence study by International Justice Mission (IJM) and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab estimates that in 2022 alone, roughly 1 in every 100 children were trafficked to produce sexual exploitation material (CSEM) for profit.
