World Childhood Foundation - OSEC Live-Streaming Payments Philippines

Rights Lab project lead: Ben Brewster
Funder: World Childhood Foundation (Sweden)
Duration: 1 November 2023 - 30 April 2024
Programme: Business and Economies

The Rights Lab is working with the World Childhood Foundation to assess the feasibility of studying transactions linked to the financial beneficiaries of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) in the Philippines, particularly those linked to livestreamed exploitation.  The study aims explore the utility of using recipient-side financial data to identify additional and/or previously unidentified demand-side OSEC buyers from existing case data. Of note in this context is the necessity of understanding how transactions linked to OSEC differ from or resemble other financial transactions entering the country. This includes both legitimate/legal transactions and those linked to other illicit behaviors (such as adult sexual services or other forms of child sexual exploitation) which may also be flagged by financial institutions as suspicious. The research aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to identify and protect child victims of OSEC livestreaming in the Philippines.