International Justice Mission (IJM) Australia welcomes the announcement today from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that Australia has committed a $20 million investment to support the Philippines to reform, and improve access to, its justice system.
Attorney Samson Inocencio, National Director of IJM Philippines and Vice President of IJM’s global program to counter online sexual exploitation of children is in Australia this week and commented on the importance of regional leadership in effecting change.
“Prime Minister Albanese’s $20 million investment today in strengthening the justice system of the Philippines is critical in supporting the continued progress of the Philippine Government and demonstrates the strong leadership of Australia in supporting its neighbours to safeguard vulnerable people,” Attorney Sam said.
“IJM exists to strengthen justice systems to protect people in poverty from violence, and in the Philippines, we are focused on protecting children from online sexual exploitation and abuse.
“IJM is proud to have worked alongside Filipino justice officials, law enforcement agents and legislators to strengthen the local justice system to protect children from this widespread crime, alongside our work in investigating cases, representing survivors in the criminal justice system, and restoring them through long-term aftercare.
“In our work in justice system strengthening in the Philippines, we focus particularly on survivor protective strategies to prevent survivors from being retraumatized by the legal process, and we hope this will be one of many areas that will benefit from this significant investment from the Australian Government.
“Continued financial commitment from countries like Australia into the hotspots of these types of transnational crimes is absolutely needed to combat their proliferation.”
IJM Australia Chief Advocacy Officer, Grace Wong added that as a nation that drives the demand for online child sexual abuse material from the Philippines, it is crucial we help drive the solution.
“For the reporting period 2015 – 2022, Australia has consistently been the third-highest remitter of online sexual exploitation of children-related transactions to the Philippines. It is our responsibility to seek ways of not only driving down our demand for this material but combatting this crime at the source through justice system strengthening in the Philippines.
“IJM has long advocated for continued support by Australia to strengthen the justice system of the Philippines. We welcome today’s significant investment in that joint mission and look forward to seeing further detail.”
