The sexual exploitation of teenagers in Asia is a crisis that demands urgent, coordinated action. From the 12-year-old Thai girl trafficked to Tokyo by her mother to the 13-year-old in the Philippines advertised on social media, the faces of these victims are too often hidden behind statistics. The systems designed to protect them have failed, and the explosion of AI technology threatens to accelerate the harm exponentially.
This has become a "lucrative business" in Southeast Asia, estimated to generate between $3 billion and $20 billion in annual profit. Perpetrators use social media apps like Facebook and Line to livestream sexual acts, often blackmailing victims with recorded content. exploited teens asia top