A Call for Zero Tolerance of Sexual Exploitation of Children

Sexual exploitation of children is one of the worst scourges of our time. This phenomenon destroys children’s self esteem. It negatively affects their dignity and self worth.

There must be zero tolerance for sexual exploitation of children in the world. This is what the Third World Congress on sexual exploitation of children which was held in Rio de Janeiro from 25-28 November 2008 called for.

There is a growing proliferation of pedophilia among society especially on the internet. Nowadays many children face problems such as incest, cyber sexual exploitation, pornography, sex tourism, prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation purposes.

The harming and ill-treatment of children is inexcusable. It has to be stopped forthwith. The protection of children from all forms of abuse is possible and requires collaborative efforts. There is need to strengthen legal frameworks followed by practical plans of action. This involves enactment of new laws and ensuring effective enforcement of such laws.

Challenges of sexual exploitation are enormous and therefore require collaborative efforts of all role players with children in the forefront. Those who deal with children’s issues should understand sexual exploitation broadly. Social workers, teachers, nurses and the police should be capacitated to deal effectively with sexual exploitation of children. These people should know what the rights of children are and what is in their best interests. It is important to ensure that children involved in criminal activities are treated as victims and not as perpetrators, as it is currently the case in many countries. We need to put children first and not justice first.

Resources have to be channeled towards prevention of child sexual exploitation. The legal framework should be able to deter the perpetrators from committing crimes against children. There is also a need for transformation of attitudes and mindset among family members who are generally involved in the abuse of children.

The “Child Abuse Watchdog” was in Rio de Janeiro and captured critical issues of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. So stay tuned for more on this…

Obrigado! Thank you!

Learn How to Protect Children from Cyber Sexual Exploitation

Cyber sexual exploitation is on the increase across the globe; children are increasingly being sexually exploited through the use of the internet. The exploitation of children takes place across borders because the internet has no boundaries. For instance, a child in Africa can be sexual exploited by a pedophilia in the UK or Australia.

Cyber sexual exploitation may easily go unnoticed and yet the child would suffer psychological distress in silence without the knowledge of those who could assist. This is why it is important for the social workers and other law enforcement officers to be able to detect such problems and deal with them head on.

Sometimes it is not about the enactment of a new law but the new thinking and changing the mindset. There is no need to use too many words but to apply new strategies to deal with emerging problems. Children are better placed to identify ways of how they could be protected from cyber sexual exploitation.

There is need for education campaigns among children and members of society on cyber safety against sexual exploitation of children. Children believe that there should be global web page on the internet on safety measures against cyber sexual exploitation. Governments should also provide safety measures for children and their families in dealing with this problem effectively. Law enforcement agencies should publish details of perpetrators online and offline for children to know the perpetrators. The media should publish publications on the cyber sexual exploitation measures that can be undertaken by children to protect themselves from cyber sexual exploitation. There is need for a united front from all spheres on this matter.

Children need to be protected from sex tourism. Children are abused by tourists in hotels and the problem starts on the internet through which perpetrators stalk children and book hotels online without anybody knowing. Role players and law enforcement agencies need to be on the alert for such acts of abuse and exploitation of children.

Tomorrow may be too late! Action is needed now…