By Gabriela Baron
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) called on concerned agencies to probe content creators filming prank videos that promote “sexual abuse and harassment.”
This after CHR and PCW received reports on hidden cameras being set up where “men would lay their heads on women’s laps; holding their hands out of nowhere; catcalling; and even soliciting kisses citing a number of made-up reasons.”
“The [CHR] finds it gravely disturbing that, in pursuit of clout and increased engagement, some content creators would resort in pranks that violate a number of human rights, including right to privacy, security, and safety, especially of women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” CHR said in a statement released Saturday, Aug. 13.
“One cannot use humour to mask attempts to demean, assault, and abuse others through unwarranted sexual advances. This is how gender-based violence is normalized–by depicting it as commonplace, innocent, and acceptable,” CHR added.
‘Normalizing demeaning behaviors’
In a separate statement, PCW reminded content creators filming such pranks that they could still be liable for gender-based sexual harassment.
“These videos tend to normalize these demeaning behaviors with the general public being led to believe that yes, entering women’s personal space is okay and in fact, considered entertaining,” PCW said.
“Worse, some generate income from doing tricks that people want to see on video, banking on subconscious desires that must not be manifested, click baits, and trends.”
CHR and PCW then urged the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating center to “investigate possible violations of pertinent laws” as well as social media platforms to prevent violations by “refusing of being accessories of harm and indignity by tolerating such contents.”
