eng - World Organisation Against Torture

children as young as seven years old andkidnapped by intermediaries for the purpose,who was arrested ordered to pay a bail ofUSD 80 for each of the molested and/or disappearedchild.Local and foreign media have often beencareless and insensitive in handling victimsof pornography. One of the major areas for futurestudies is the effect of child pornographyon the victims and the problems thatemerge during rehabilitation. In practice,children are labelled for years, even well intotheir adult years. NGOs such as ECPAT haverepeatedly asked Filipino media not to joinin exploiting these already exploited children,and although there has been some response,the practice still continues.4.1.4. Aids and sexual educationOne of the great dangers of the thriving sexindustry is the threat of an HIV/AIDS epidemic.In addition, the spread of the diseaseis also lingering in the Filipino jails, where19 - See section 5.2.4. Conditions of detention.20 - “AIDS epidemic looms over RP”, Ami Evangelista, 4 July2004, Philippine Daily Inquirer,http://www.inq7.net/opi/2004/jul/04/opi_commentary 1-1.htm 20adult inmates often sexually abuse children.19 Partly due to the majority of Catholicsamong the population of the Philippines,there is a societal sentiment in thePhilippines that rejects the use of condoms.Filipino schools only provide rudimentarysex education and local authorities have evenprohibited the distribution of condoms inpublic health facilities (e.g. Manila MayorJose “Lito” Atienza). Simultaneously, AIDSis spreading and the two most powerful institutionsin the country, the government andthe Catholic Church, have taken little actionto change the attitude. 20A recent NGO report addresses the crucialfailures of the Philippine government toadequately tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS.Not only do policies omit to stress the importanceof the use of condoms for the preventionof the life-threatening disease,authorities expressly discourage their use.The anti-condom policies are manifested bybans of national funds for the supply of condomsand the prohibition on teachers to provideadequate sex education including healthmatters. In addition, numerous instanceshave been reported in which the police issaid to have penalised a person in possessionof condoms with prostitution. As a consequence,most Filipino youth and adolescents