Ruby decided to file charges initially to seek justice for herself. She later realized that
her fight for justice was no longer her own, but would also benefit the other women
who were similarly victimized by her ex-boyfriend, as well as other would-be victims.
She did not want to send her ex-partner to jail, but felt that she would be cleared of
blame if the perpetrator was made to speak publicly in court about his actions. This
did not happen when the court dismissed her case for lack of evidence. She felt the
law was unfair.
Martha claimed to have recovered from her ordeal just a week after her photos came
out on the internet. She was actually more concerned with the impact of the scandal
on her children who are active in social networking sites. She managed to secure
the services of a legal counsel who acted promptly on the matter, and bloggers,
website hosts responded positively within 24 hours. Some of them even apologized
for sharing her private photos. Her admission to the authenticity of the photos and
her honesty about her own choices helped change the public’s perception of her.
It is hard to tell what justice would look like for the victims of child pornography as
court cases are still in progress. For those whose own parents are the victimizers,
the very idea of the minors testifying against them poses a challenge not only to the
children but to legal support groups as well.
For other actors at the government level, policies, programs and laws are being
developed to improve the delivery of justice to the children. The provincial
government of Cebu and the local government of Cordova are tackling child
cyber-pornography on all fronts. Money-transfer companies being used by cyberpornography operators to receive payments from clients overseas are being
watched. There is now a municipal ordinance requiring them to submit a monthly
report on the number of their customers and suspicious transactions. It also requires
the customers to fill out a form with information about themselves, sender, their
relationship to the sender and the purpose for the remittance. Other measures to
curb cyber-pornography include requiring town residents with internet connection
to register with the local government, and conducting parent-teacher meetings to
educate parents on the issue.
<End Violence: Women’s Rights and Safety Online>
19
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