Children need a healthy and positive environment that keeps them away from all the immoralities, evil and pain. This is important for their mental growth. Earlier, children would fall victim to abuse directly at the hands of other children or adults close to them. These days, they are becoming victims of various abuse and harassment on the internet as well.
The picture of children being abused online that came up in a discussion organised by Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS) on 12 June is indeed alarming. More than 2.4 million (2,491,368) reports related to child sexual abuse was sent from Bangladesh to US-based nonprofit organisation National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) last year. When it comes to numbers, Bangladesh is leading among all the countries of the world from where reports of child sexual abuse have been sent.
A total of 32 million (3.2 crore) reports were sent from different countries to NCMEC last year. Next in line after Bangladesh are the US, Thailand, Nigeria, France and Dominican Republic sequentially. The Internet Watch Foundation worked to remove as many as 275,652 URLs linked to child sexual abuse and harassment from the internet last year.
Digital communication has provided children with the opportunity of surfing the world of social media and online games unrestrictedly. Criminals are able contact children victims here by concealing their real identities. They learn about children’s interests online and using related photographs or videos turn them into targets of sexual abuse. Recently, various photographs and videos created with the AI technology have increased the incidents of child sexual abuse online even further.
Earlier, Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) had run another survey where they had found out that compared to male children girl children are more prone to become victim of abuse online. More than 36 per cent girl children fall victim to sexual abuse by their friends online. Above 27 per cent girls are victimised by relatives and grownups of their acquaintance while as much as 18 per cent of them fall victim to sexual abuse by unacquainted adults.
To protect children from this sexual abuse, guardians must come forward before everyone else. The children have to be made aware of the dangerous aspects of internet use. According to UNICEF, children should never be allowed into the digital world before turning 11. However, 25 per cent of the children in Bangladesh do use internet. In this matter, there is parental guide for guardians and that has to be followed. Children have to be given as much time as possible and they have to be involved in sports and cultural activities more and more.
Alongside effective use of law, awareness has to be increased on every level to keep children protected online. Guardians have to form a friendly relationship with children so that the children share everything with them. And parents have to be even more conscious about the issue of persuading their children not to share their photographs and information with others online.
Not only guardians, but the state as well as the conscious quarters of the society also have a responsibility towards protecting children from abuse online. The guideline there is on asking assistance for children’s safety by calling the national emergency number 999, child helpline number 1098 or women and child repression prevention cell number 109, has to be implemented completely. At the same time those who abuse children online must also be brought to justice.