Before I sleep tonight I offer a prayer for those who need it.
Let them be guided along the right path through whatever they have to deal with.
I will be around to support and love as long as I am blessed to be able to do so.
Those needing this know who they are, please, can no one else ask what it is about.
Almost certainly it happens in other countries too, including the UK but few where there is such an easy opportunity.
There is no good outcome, only tragic ones. The kids will go into the Philippines care system, they’ll likely be abused there too. There is no happy ending for those children.
I say this elsewhere but want it clearly understood. This is not widespread in the Philippines, many would also be appalled it goes on. The vast majority are beautiful people devoted to their families. This is a minority of Philippine nationals and a minority of westerners who create this.
Apologies for the terribly quality and editing of that video. I didn’t do it, it’s just on the net and I didn’t link to the BBC version because a lot wouldn’t be able to see it. After the programme titles come up, that’s the end. It then goes into repeating it again.so stop watching there.
The mothers will be in prison at least 15 years. There is no justification for what they do, the only regret of the mothers was that they got caught. They said they feel it’s OK for a 12 year old to make her own sexual decisions … there is no accounting for that. Some say it’s the extreme poverty there which drives this, I am not so sure. I can’t imagine any situation where I would have agreed to that with my kids and, none of the mothers looked hungry to me. I’d die of starvation to keep my kids fed, wouldn’t even cross my mind to sell them for sex. Just totally sick.
I am not letting the men off here. Majority are from the USA or the UK. Totally sick bastards the lot of them. For sure the money they pay drives the sex trade without any doubt. If the buyers didn’t exist there would be no need for the abuse but … oh my, I forgot this, some of those mothers abuse their kids just for the hell of it, they think it’s OK.
There has to be another word apart from ‘mother’ because these women are everything a mother can never be. It is sickening.
I honestly don’t see an end to this sort of abuse. I have personal experience of talking to Filipinos (not family) who think it’s totally OK to have sex with children, no shyness about it at all, just brazenly open about their underage sex exploits as though it is everyday, everyone does it. I was shocked, I protested but mildly. I am in their country, one man is not going to change the attitude that a country allows. I honestly don’t know how long I could keep that up if I actually lived there. Best I don’t meet any of those guys who think it is OK and, I am talking about guys here. Though this documentary focuses on mothers selling their kids to predominantly western nationals, many guys there, native Filipinos think it is OK to have sex with 14 year old boys, possibly younger. They seem to think it is what they look like which matters. It sickens and appals me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when I was introduced to one of them or why, indeed, someone like that would still be considered a friend.
Is it western values? Each culture is different, I know and understand this. Do we have the right to make a moral decision and impose it on another country? The law on consent in the Philippines is 12 years of age. Having sex with a 12 year old is legal as long as they consent. The reason the mothers were prosecuted was because the consent of the children was not sought, sex was imposed on them. There is no protection in law if the 12 year old agrees to sex so, those guys who have sex with 14 year old boys, they are not breaking the law. It is our western values which object, my values.
It has taken me a long while to confirm on the web what the law is as it applies to same sex couples and, as far as my research went, the law is 12 as long as it is consensual. So, if I meet someone in his 30’s who says he has a boyfriend who is 13/14 I am meant to behave as though this is totally OK because there, it is. There are laws I read which bar any person in a position of trust having sex with someone under 18 such as priests, pastors, teachers, … you get the point so, teachers, just don’t out there!
To my mind I have been raised with expectations that children are children until at least 16 and that there should be no excuses or justifications under that age. How do I deal with potentially living in a country where that doesn’t apply, where 12 year olds can be sex objects? I don’t know, it’s a tough one.
Then again, apparently there is a law of scandal whereby same sex couples are not meant to show affection in a public place too, not sure I am comfortable with that and the fact that, as the law currently stands, I have no right to be there in relation to my husband because there, I do not have a husband, I have no rights in connection to him either. It’s a very bizarre concept to get my head around. Let’s hope they change the law in the meantime so this is not an issue!
Look, the UK is not perfect, we have our shame, not least that we currently have men and, no doubt, women, paying people to use kids for sex in the Philippines, that is a national scandal and, given the apparent scale of it, it’s a travesty we don’t get to hear about these people.
“Same-sex relationships are not criminalised by law in the Philippines, but overt public displays of affection may be considered a ‘grave scandal’ under the Revised Penal Code, and can result in imprisonment for up to 6 months”
As far as recognising same sex relationships go in the Philippines we have Duterte promising in his 2016 manifesto to recognise same sex relationships then going back on it very quickly stating that marriage is between a man and a woman and more recently, seemingly going back on that statement saying that legalising same sex relationships only needs a law change and they can do that … so, we’re always closer to it, whether we are ‘close’ or not remains to be seen.
Historically we have to acknowledge that we effectively killed one of the worlds heroes in Alan Turing, the man who cracked the German codes and was pivotal in us winning WWII merely because he was homosexual. Let’s face it, the UK has an appalling record of abuse internationally we should be deeply ashamed of. We still do it even if it is by encouraging or propping up regimes who are abusing people. Homophobia is not dead any more than racism is dead, one of the oldest protected discriminations, that of age discrimination, is rampant. I know as soon as my age is on an application form I am automatically rejected for many job roles.
These issues of how bad the UK is can wait for another post, another day. Right now we’re talking about another country, one which I hope to someday call ‘home’. I have been very vocal here in the UK about abuse, about highlighting things which are wrong. I will have to learn to shut up and put up there, it’s going to be a challenge.
Links:
LGBT Rights in the Philippines
The Video which started this
UK Government Advice Same Sex
Current Political View – Same Sex Philippines
You see, if I had a broken leg, it would be obvious. Many might understand how debilitating a migraine is, some might also ‘get’ mental health issues … though, that’s pushing it.
M.E. is invisible (mostly). It makes the person who has it look like a lazy good for nothing who is just looking for excuses not to do things, to avoid work. I hear people tell me that ‘we all get tired’. This is true but, with M.E., you don’t get tired, we ‘are’ tired, all of the time. Not just a little sleepy, but that sort of tired that happens at bedtime or, after a huge meal. That sort of tired like jet leg where the brain simply doesn’t function or, when it is, it’s like we are not fully in control and mistakes happen. Forgetting things, misplacing bits and bobs.
Every day has to be planned, paced. I can keep going if I know what I am doing and know when I am doing nothing. The theory doesn’t always work, with the best plans sometimes it just gets too much. I am functioning but sort of not at the same time.
Many will pass it off as the results of depression or anxiety because they do tend to go along with the condition. Let’s face it, you really want to do something exciting but your body and mind are just hitting the sleep button. That’s going to lead to some emotional issues. Serious anxiety.
I have just started a new job and my anxiety levels are through the roof.
Example using today …. now, tomorrow I have a 3pm – 10pm shift. Today I was up at 07:30am. By 11am I was exhausted, barely able to communicate so crashed out in bed. I remained in bed until gone 4pm! When I ‘woke up’ I felt the same as I did when I went to bed! All afternoon and evening I have struggled to stay awake and been aching loads, every joint hurts, every muscle. Pain relief doesn’t make much of a dent.
I, unlike many, are in my 50’s, this can affect anyone at any age. So, I get the excuse that these things are expected at my age. No they’re not thank you very much for your opinion.
I want and need to work yet, any job I can get I cannot really manage! I lie to myself and tell myself I can work on, get through it but, the reality is, it’s too much for me.
I also have tennis elbow, a result of a bad judgement call I would not normally make but I was on autopilot at the time and not fully in control. This huge pain is expected to last for a few years assuming it ever heals. The other day I couldn’t even put a damn sock on a client because it was too painful … let’s get real, most mornings I struggle to dress myself!
So, I have added a link here. M.E. comes in varying degrees, mine is some sort of middling one, not the most extreme but not the least either. It’s all the same condition though and, keeping going doesn’t actually make it better, it makes it worse if anything. I just keep going because we need the money.
I only just got diagnosed though I have had it a few years, it’s got worse the last year or so.
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