Context: 

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that cited a 250­-300% increase in the circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on social media in India.

About Online Child Sexual Abuse:

• Online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OCSEA) refers to activities such as the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), live streaming sexual assault of minors, obtaining sexually explicit material, exhibitionism and meeting the abuser in-person. 

Impacts of Online Child Sexual Abuse:

• Psychological impacts: It poses serious harm to children who experience psychological stress such as anxiety, trauma, and depression. 
• Behavioural impacts: It can also lead to behavioural changes like drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm, and lower motivation for academics. 
• Long term impacts: The consequences of online sexual abuse in childhood are far-reaching and may well extend into adulthood — bringing forth issues with intimacy and affecting interpersonal relationships. 
• The danger to the child persists after the initial production and distribution of the recorded material, with each repeated viewing or sharing being a violation of the victim.

Challenges in tackling it

• Main administrative challenges when dealing with OCSEA are:

• • limited law enforcement capacities 
  • gaps in legislative framework
  • a lack of awareness and urgency around the issue
  • understaffed workforce in relevant social welfare organisations.

• Rapidly evolving Digital Landscape: 

• • Advances in information technology have given rise to better encryption services and the dark net, which provide a safe cover of anonymity to offenders, allowing them to engage in child sexual abuse.
  • The danger and complexity of online abuse has escalated at an alarming rate and needs to be dealt with swiftly. 
  • The ubiquitous nature of the internet and online interaction has made it so that almost all cases of child sexual abuse feature a virtual aspect. 

Way Forward: 

• A broad perspective and a systems-level approach should be considered when deciding on strategies to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
• Close collaboration between non-traditional partners from the industry, government ministries dealing in technological communication, and law enforcement. 
• Provisions should be in place to prevent future cases and safeguard the victims or survivors. 
• Promoting a systematic and constant approach to training the judiciary and prosecution on child sexual abuse material can prove beneficial, if centred around child-sensitive protocols.
• As per a joint review launched by UNICEF and WeProtect Global Alliance, there are six key domains for a country to focus on to effectively address this issue — policy and governance, criminal justice, industry, society and culture, research and victim support.
• There should be further development of clear mandates and creation of a logical framework of roles and duties of all relevant stakeholders within standard operating procedures for investigation.

News Source: Indian Express

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