GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 16th Jan. Providing cell phones to children without supervision can be extremely risky. Without proper monitoring, you may not even realize when your child falls victim to exploitation during their daily activities. The recently published Global Threat Assessment 2023 report reveals some truly alarming findings. According to the survey, young individuals are being exploited online at an alarming rate. The presence of child exploitation content on the Internet has surged by 87%. The WeProtect Global Alliance has released its fourth Global Threat Assessment Report, which highlights an 87% increase in recorded instances of child sexual exploitation since 2019, with over 32 million reported cases worldwide. The report emphasizes the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to safeguard children from this growing threat on a global scale.
Artificial intelligence is becoming the adversary
According to research published by the WeProtect Global Alliance, artificial intelligence is often exploited to exploit children. Since the beginning of 2023, there has been an increase in cases of criminals employing generative AI to make paedophilic content and exploit minors. Sexual imagination is growing in children.
This paper contains critical information on the hazards children face online in 2023. According to the Internet Watch Foundation, the self-generated sexual imagination of 7-10 year old youngsters surged by 360 % between 2020 and 2022.
Grooming takes just 19 seconds
The survey reportedly indicated that interactions with youngsters on social gaming platforms can quickly escalate into high-risk grooming situations, with an average grooming time of only 45 minutes. The social gaming ecosystem is growing increasingly perilous.
Recovery from childhood
According to this report, there has been an upsurge in financial sexual harassment. While 139 cases of child extortion were reported in 2021, the number rose to more than 10,000 in 2022. Criminals prepare and manipulate minors to share sexual photos and films, which they then extort for money. Extortionists pose as young girls online and predominantly use social media to contact boys aged 15 to 17. Many children have tragically committed suicide as a result of similar experiences.
The figures are alarming
According to Dr. Manjir Mukherjee, Senior Director of Arpan Towards Freedom from Sexual Abuse, the perpetrator was likely known to the children in 60% of incidents of online abuse, as reported in the Disrupting Harm research in the Global Threat Assessment 2023. This stunning fact dispels the idea that online sexual exploitation is primarily committed by strangers. As a result, parents should be aware of both online and offline abuse by people they know, as these two types are frequently intertwined and occur on a continuum spanning both social strata. Ian Drennan, Executive Director of WeProtect Global Alliance, stated that we must pay attention to and take action against child sexual exploitation and abuse that occurs online around the world.
To safeguard children from harm, governments, online service providers, charities, and businesses must increase their efforts and collaborate to promote change.
POCSO Act was enacted
When criticism from all sides mounted, the government commissioned its own research in 2007. According to the government’s study, every second child in the country has been sexually abused. The alarming thing was that boys are just as vulnerable to sexual abuse as girls. The government then viewed this as a major issue. There should be legislation to address this. Veerappa Moily served as Law Minister in 2010. People working on child sexual abuse issues were summoned to Chennai.
They made suggestions, and the document was finalized. POCSO, which stands for Protection of Children from Sexual Offenders. This was our biggest triumph. Cases that were previously unregistered can now be readily registered. Previously, no one discussed trauma or its impact on the mind and emotions, but POCSO has altered that.
Follow these 7 steps to safeguard your child from sexual assault
1. Understand the child’s everyday routine.
Communicate with your child. Encourage the child to speak up and ask him what he did all day. Sit with them and converse, because many times they are unaware that something is wrong with them. They may not be intelligent enough to understand these wrong things.
2. Teach children about their bodies.
Tell children about their body parts. If you can’t go into further depth, at least specify which portions of the body are particularly private and should not be touched.
3. Be open, so that children can communicate with you.
Invite your children to come and talk to you. It is critical to establish effective communication with children so that they can speak to you. Teach children not to keep things from you, and you will be happier rather than upset. You promise them that you would assist them and give security.
4. Identifying right from wrong
Tell youngsters what type of behaviour is unacceptable and that they should notify an adult as soon as possible. Although sexual harassment can occur anywhere, including the genitals, lips, legs, neck, and arms, you can begin by reporting it. Let them know what kind of contact is acceptable and what kind of behaviour will not be permitted at all, and inform them as quickly as possible.
5. Teach children to express affection.
Sexual predators frequently nurture their victims in the same way that parents do. For example, if you’re weary or unhappy, ask your youngster to kiss and hug you. With this, your youngster begins to learn that when someone is upset, this is done to make him happy. The assailant may try a similar approach with your child. In this case, you will need to teach youngsters how to communicate love in your own unique way.
6. The secret factor is harmful.
Most sexual assailants keep it between two persons and refuse to tell anyone else. You should teach your children that nothing should be hidden from their parents. Tell them that keeping such secrets might be deadly.
7. Who should youngsters put their faith in?
Tell your children who they can and should not trust. Be extremely cautious when selecting the school your child attends, the teacher who supervises your child, the babysitter who cares for your child and anybody else who is in some way connected to your child. So that you can believe him. Looking at it, our children are not safe anyplace; predators are everywhere. At this point, it is critical that you form a strong link with your child and help them develop the strength to deal with everything. Remember that your child’s bully could also be a four-year-old classmate.
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