Youth leaders join forces to fight Trafficking with VR training
- Arise
- 21 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The air in Iloilo City on November 14th and 15th, 2025, was charged not just with the typical energy of the city, but with the focused dedication of young advocates from across the Visayas in Philippines. I was privileged to see the unfolding of "Youth Rise: Media and Cyber Action vs. OSAEC (Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children)," a two-day capacity-building initiative masterfully facilitated by Bidlisiw Foundation and the Regional Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking. This gathering brought together Peer Support Groups from Cebu and Iloilo, alongside the Christian Advocates for Justice & Development in Negros Inc. (CAJDEN) Youth Advocates, to help build their skills in combating OSAEC.
The event took place amidst a season of immense regional hardship. Despite the recent devastation of typhoons and earthquakes that had rattled the Visayas region, the organisers persevered with a modified schedule, ensuring the mission continued. I spoke to several of them who were actually pleased to be offered a distraction from the destruction and looking forward to an immersive experience that enabled them to up-skill in a safe environment.
The workshop was a strategic investment in the next generation of digital defenders, and the energy of the participants was palpable. The programme was systematic, ensuring participants were armed with both the foundational knowledge and the practical awareness required for effective advocacy.
The true highlight was the innovative Cyber Caravan. The participants didn’t simply learn about digital vulnerabilities, they experienced it. This immersive method, designed to raise awareness and measure their own digital security, saw participants randomly grouped into five stations. They navigated challenges using a Virtual Reality (VR) game, mobile apps and memory exercises. The intent was brilliant, by making the learning interactive and gamified, the lessons on recognizing and mitigating threats were immediately internalized by the youth.
One participant remarked “The training content was very relevant and easy to understand. I enjoyed how the facilitators used games and real-life examples. It made the discussions exciting and helped me remember the lessons.”
This interactive experience was complemented with hands-on skill development on creating digital tools to reach more young people on these issues. The irony was not lost on us all - you need to find ways to educate young people on the same platforms that traffickers use to target them!
The goal of this final session was clearly to strengthen their proficiency in producing compelling, engaging advocacy material. A powerful message is only as effective as its delivery, and watching these young people hone their skills by transforming legal statutes and abstract concepts into visually and narratively impactful content was genuinely exciting.
While the capacity building itself was comprehensive, I believe the most significant and most rewarding outcome of Youth Rise was the profound fostering of peer-to-peer relationships among the advocates.
Across the two days, young people from different cities and organisations were deliberately mixed together. It created an immediate, powerful synergy that was exciting to observe as they shared ideas and developed tools together. This newly forged network of solidarity is the most resilient tool in the fight against OSAEC. It ensures that when one advocate faces a challenge, they have an entire peer support system, a coast-to-coast alliance, ready to lend assistance and expertise.
My sincerest appreciation goes to Bidlisiw for their leadership in organizing such an impactful event and to all the youth participants for their dedication. They left Iloilo City to return back to their cities not only with new skills on online advocacy, but also with new friendships and broadened perspectives on how to create a safer digital future for every Filipino child.
This Cyber Caravan will travel to different places in Cebu Province to raise awareness on the issue, generate support from stakeholders, and encourage reporting of cases.
This article was written by Arise's programme co-ordinator in the Philippines, Chloie Isler. To find out more about the Cyber Caravan and how you can support Arise, please send us an email.
