Voyeurism as a Breach of Trust

It has always been around but these days, voyeurism is just one hot topic that arouses the interest of every Filipino. Many are reacting. Gabriela steps in. And even the Senate takes the case on its hand.

Setting aside the fact that the hype on Hayden Kho is creating a tabloid out of the Philippine politics, we have to grasp the issue in bite sizes to be able to come up with real solutions. Judgment is necessary. Solutions, however, are preventive.

Good ol' Wikipedia defines voyeurism as:

"the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature"

If we will be human enough to look at this definition as some stark reality, we have to ask ourselves whether this is normal or not. If not, what do childhood and early imagoes have to do with one's compulsive effort to videotape acts that occur in private places? And in which cases do we classify the voyeur as an offender?

(Since the first question is far too complex for a blogger to discuss, allow me to delve on the latter instead.)

Sad to say, existing Philippine laws do not have any sanctions on the recording of sexual activities; on the other hand, some countries have laws that explicitly declare the act as deviant and even criminal in cases when there is no consent from the other party involved.

Given the said limitation, we can only think about the Hayden Kho scandal as an ethical offense--particularly because it is a breach of trust.

Sex and everything else leading to it are basically like relationship contracts. Such contracts are made and entered into with the binding force of trust. Without the other's knowledge and consent, videotaping obviously violates this trust. An act that is done in the bedroom should not find itself replayed on public media.

Moreover, the act should not be passed on from the hands of men and women for reasons due to entertainment, money-making, and even just sheer curiosity. At the end of the day, circulating the videos can be just as damaging as the real offense.

The worst part of all these scandals lie on the fact that most, if not all, of the victims are women.

Photo Credit: http://www.microvideox.com/images/hidden_camera_hiddencamnight_0000.jpg

Private Shows and Voyeurism... What's New?

Hayden Kho makes it to the headlines again. But really, what's new?

Ever since file sharing websites and Blue Tooth technologies have become accessible to all, the whole world has seen the worst of what should just take place inside the bedroom. Everyday, normal people become instant superstars with beginnings traced from the humble sidewalks of Quiapo. Recent times also prove that there is no longer a need for hi-tech equipment, super talent and editing skills to produce a blockbuster hit. Any three-minute private clip shot by a simple camera phone can be viewed and downloaded by a thousand times in just a matter of hours.

Such indie productions grace the growing galleries of every voyeur's laptop. They zip it. Hide it. Then they think they're safe.

But girlfriends should be wiser than safe.


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Not all lawmakers, given their preferences, are oblivious to the atrocities that occur in the Internet. Buhay party-list representative Irwin Tieng, for example, has long filed a bill that seeks to criminalize the recording of private acts. But issues such as Cha-Cha and whatnot are more prioritized in the House. Not really complaining but thanks to Hayden, the others must now see the urgency of passing the bill.


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It is not just about the act for we have seen and heard worse. It is more about the innocent women falling prey to Hayden's fetish. In the first place, if the video was not at all recorded, there will never be all these pa-flash, pa-download and who's-at-fault talks.

Secondly, whoever has spread the video must face the same punishment as Hayden. Putting ourselves in Hayden's shoes must give us some sense that he must have recorded the videos for personal consumption. Or that, at least, publicizing the videos is not among his plans. Whoever leaked the video to the you-know must be well aware that it is not just Hayden who will be shamed. More than anyone else, it is the unsuspecting women whose reputations are forever tarnished.

Likewise, the public must be discouraged from spreading the scandals further by making the mere possession and distribution of private videos illegal. For whether we like to admit it or not, we will not go into such lengths to get a copy of the scandal if not for the purpose of entertainment. We, of course, know the best way to show our sympathies. [Yes, I've seen the videos... - J.i.H]

The issue should not limit us to Hayden and Katrina. A lot of nameless others had their right to privacy violated by either voyeurism or just plain cruelty. It's about time that we learn that what happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom.


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For me, however, the better one-liner is:

Kids, don't try this at home.:p

05/21/2009 with updates made on 05/25/2009