Summary

According to UNICEF, 1 out of 5 children in the Philippines are abused by adults they know and trust. Because of shame, more cases are unreported. We needed to break the silence through a radical and humanizing approach so the stories of abused children can be bravely shared. Working with Bahay Tuluyan (Shelter House)- an Australian foundation based in the Philippines that provides refuge and rehabilitation for sexually abused children, we told their stories through a film using actual illustrations by abused children donated by Dr. Elspeth Mcinnes, a renowned sociologist from University of South Australia. To create greater impact, the foundation sought the support of the composers of Grammy-nominated song “Torn,” who allowed Bahay Tuluyan to use its song. The film was posted in Bahay Tuluyan's Facebook page. We faced the risks of the film being taken down because Facebook's controversial censorship policy. Within 24 hours after being uploaded, the film spread around the world reaching 141 million people across 16 countries. And true enough, Facebook pulled it down, and suspended the uploader’s admin privileges for supposedly violating their community standards. Once again the stories of abused children were silenced. Local and international media including concerned communities reacted to the censorship. Online news company Rippler, made a call to “stop the silence”. Facebook eventually reinstated the film.