New tool developed to tackle online child grooming
UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has hailed a new anti-grooming tool as an important weapon in the fight against online child sexual exploitation.
Engineers from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Snap and Twitter, worked for 2 days at a hackathon in the United States co-hosted by the Home Secretary and Microsoft, which tasked industry experts to come up with tools to identify online child grooming.
A prototype tool has been developed that can be used to automatically flag potential conversations taking place between child groomers and children.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:
We all have a responsibility to tackle online child sexual exploitation and the new tool developed during the hackathon is a positive step forward.
Once complete, it will be rolled out for free to other tech companies that want to deploy it.
This is just one thing we can do together to combat this appalling crime.
Hackathon participants analysed tens of thousands of conversations to understand patterns used by predators. This enabled engineers to develop technology to automatically and accurately detect these patterns.
Potential conversations between a groomer and their victim will be flagged so a moderator can investigate further.
And then what?
Further work will take place on the prototype. Once completed it will be licensed free of charge to smaller and medium-sized technology companies worldwide.
During his trip to the United States the Home Secretary met major tech firms so he can be updated on their efforts to tackle the crime. He used the meetings to explore how companies could make greater use of technology to proactively find and remove abusive content from their sites.
He noted that, while some progress had been made, companies still had to go further and work faster to tackle online child sexual exploitation (CSE). The Home Secretary was thanked for his leadership and commitment to the issue of CSE.
Online child sexual abuse will be the focus of the next Five Country Ministerial meeting in London in summer 2019, bringing together interior ministers and attorneys general from the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Last week the government announced a package of measures to tackle online CSE. This included:
commissioning the Internet Watch Foundation to investigate how advertising is funding CSE activity
a taskforce, chaired by the Home Secretary, bringing together representatives from ad agencies, trade bodies and brands to ensure criminals don’t have access to this funding stream
a £250,000 innovation call for organisations to bid for funding to assist them in developing innovative solutions to disrupt live streaming of abuse
new tools to improve the capabilities of the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) – the database used by the NCA and UK police forces to search for indecent images of children and increase the ability to identify victims
I really like this Home Secretary. God bless you Sec. Javid.
Indian Nobel laureate wants global treaty to tackle online child abuse
By ROLI SRIVASTAVA, ReutersLONDON, United Kingdom - Nobel peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi called on Friday for a United Nations convention on online child sex abuse and trafficking, saying an international law is the only way to end the global scourge.
The Indian campaigner against child trafficking said he was gathering support from fellow laureates and religious leaders including Pope Francis for a treaty and a global task force to tackle the multi-billion-dollar industry.
"The same criminal gangs involved in international child trafficking are also involved in online child pornography," Satyarthi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
"I told the Pope that while a government can ban these sites, no one can stop the online porn and sexual abuse due to free digital space, he said after meeting the leader of the Catholic church on Friday to enlist his support.
Satyarthi said he had raised the issue of historic child sex abuse in the Catholic church - an issue Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken out on in the past.
"We must ensure that sexual abuse and exploitation of our most vulnerable children is never repeated," he said.
The Vatican's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Satyarthi said there was a need for an international law because online crimes transcend across borders. He said his demands were submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in September.
While demand for child sex images largely comes from Western nations such as Britain and Australia, children are often abused in countries like the Philippines where growing access to cheap internet and technology is fueling the crime, experts say.
More and more children are being groomed, abused over live streams and sold for sex - often via social media and listings websites - for ever-cheaper prices in countries from India to the United States.
Satyarthi, joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, is also urging a global toll-free helpline to report cases of online child sex abuse.
As child abuse reports rise,
Singapore agencies shore up protection efforts
Government and private organisations alike are expanding initiatives to detect, handle and raise awareness of child abuse.
Then he started caning and smacking their kids to the point of bruising and still, she rode it out.
But when he slapped their third son - who has an intellectual disability - more than 10 times across the face, Cindy (not her real name) finally felt fear for her safety and that of her five children.
She spilled the beans to her social worker from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), who promptly helped get Cindy and her kids to the Casa Raudha Women Home shelter - and also file a personal protection order (PPO) against the husband, who was away in Batam at the time.
Cindy's case is one of 894 investigated by MSF in 2017 - a number that has climbed steadily from 343 in 2013, across the areas of physical and sexual child abuse as well as neglect. MSF’s child protective service (CPS) has also recorded an uptick in enquiries, from 2,022 in 2015 to 3,344 in 2017.
It's odd that I would include these dramatically escalating numbers in a report in a 'good news' column, but it is good news. The numbers represent the reality of abuse that has been going on for years, and probably centuries. That these are finally being acknowledged is the first step in any society dealing with spousal and child abuse. Only then can meaningful policies and practices be developed to improve the situation.
Over at Big Love Child Protection Specialist Centre, which handled Cindy's case after the PPO, the number of referred abuse cases rose nearly threefold from 123 in the 2013/14 period to 367 in 2017/18.
And the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) told Channel NewsAsia that child sexual abuse cases made up 20 per cent of 515 cases logged by its Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) in 2017. In comparison, for the first half of this year alone, 18 per cent of 386 cases were of child sexual abuse, said the centre’s head Anisha Joseph.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORT
The rising number of cases, however, does not necessarily point to an increase in child sexual abuse, said the organisations.
“It may also indicate that there is greater awareness of support services, or that there are more survivors willing to speak up about their experience,” said Ms Joseph.
Big Love director Serene Tan added: “Another possible reason is that there are also specialised tools that are being used by professionals to better assess and intervene with families with child protection concerns, hence more families can be given appropriate help early.”
She said the agency has been looking at increasing manpower, ramping up staff training and working more closely with the community to tackle the increasing number of cases.
“Big Love also conducts child abuse awareness talks in primary schools and organises public education activities in community spaces,” Ms Tan noted, while pointing to its #GiveAVoiceSG website and campaign, which has collected over 13,000 pledges to protect children within three months.
MSF also attributed the high number of cases investigated to its stepped-up efforts in training professionals, ensuring easy access to help as well as public education.
A spokesperson said the ministry has introduced tools to guide the likes of school counsellors and social workers on action to be taken. A host of options are also available for the public to reach out for help, ranging from child protection specialist centres to dedicated hotlines.
To foster wider awareness, MSF said it trains community and grassroots bodies like SINDA and MUIS to detect and manage abuse cases. The ongoing Break the Silence campaign, introduced in 2016 and disseminated both online and offline, is also an attempt to encourage conversations on family violence.
“Most people will approach friends and family first before going to the authorities, so we need more public awareness about supportive and empathetic responses, and about the resources available,” said Ms Joseph.
“It is important to offer support - reassuring survivors that assault is not their fault, and that how to respond is their choice.”
GROUNDS FOR HOPE
For Cindy, leaning on loved ones never seemed an option, having lost contact with all her siblings and her mother staying too far away to reach.
“Whenever I felt like reporting that he hit me, he would be at home. He was always around,” she said. “I don’t have anyone to back me up … and I was afraid I would get hit again.”
She expressed gratitude for both her social workers - one from MSF who encouraged her to finally move to a shelter, and one from Big Love who stepped in after the PPO was issued.
The situation has improved since and the entire family is living together in the same house again. With regular visits from the Big Love social worker, Cindy's husband now has a better grip on his anger issues, and is aware of alternatives to physically punishing his kids - such as removing privileges, assigning homework or simply talking to them.
Big Love is positive their case can be closed by the end of 2018. And Cindy herself is optimistic, now that MSF has also helped her secure part-time employment as a pre-school teacher.
“I wasn’t working last time. If I left him, I wouldn’t have income. How would I survive, with my kids too?” she recalled. “I didn’t think I could make it out there, alone … but things are better now, and I hope it stays that way.”
To report concerns over a child’s safety, the public can dial MSF’s Child Protective Service Helpline (1800 777 000) or ComCare Call (1800 222 0000). For sexual abuse, AWARE’s SACC helpline is 6779 0282.
They can also contact any of the Child Protection Specialist Centres (Big Love, HEART@Fei Yue and Safe Space) or Family Violence Specialist Centres (PAVE, TRANS SAFE Centre and Care Corner Project StART).
Children who need support can call Tinkle Friend (1800 2744 788).
UK pledges £50m to help end FGM
across Africa by 2030
Officials say funding is biggest investment in tackling practice
and helping vulnerable girls
‘I will not let anyone touch my granddaughters’: Nakhal Almadina Altayev Mohammed Almansour, 63, an anti-FGM campaigner in Wad al Baseer, in Sudan’s El Gezira state. Photograph: Courtesy of DfID
The British government is to invest £50m in an attempt to end female genital mutilation by 2030, claiming it is the single biggest investment to tackle the issue by an international donor.
The money, announced on Friday, will go to grassroots programmes working to stop the practice across Africa, where it is most prevalent. Penny Mordaunt, international development secretary, said the investment was also key to ending FGM in the UK.
“Inspirational, courageous African women are leading efforts to end the practice in their own countries, and thanks to them, more communities are starting to abandon the practice.
“But progress is at a critical juncture and we must work to protect the millions of girls that are still at risk of being cut. We also can’t end FGM in the UK without ending it globally.”
At least 200 million girls and women have been subjected to FGM – the cutting of female genitals – and an estimated 69 million more girls will be cut over the next 12 years unless action is taken. The UN general assembly has agreed to work to end FGM by 2030 under the sustainable development goals.
The Department for International Development said almost a third of the money (£15m) will be allocated to Sudan, where an estimated 87% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 have undergone FGM.
Brendan Wynne, from Donor Direct Action, which runs an End FGM fund, said: “Such additional funding is incredibly welcome but this time around we have to make sure that it actually reaches those women on the frontlines who are working so hard and so successfully to help end FGM. We should not tell them how to do this, but rather get behind them and support their leadership. They know what they are doing and should be trusted.”
In Sudan the money will be used to expand the Saleema Initiative, set up in 2008 by the National Council for Child Welfare and Unicef Sudan. Saleema – “whole” in Arabic – runs 263 clubs at schools where girls, some of whom will already have been cut, discuss FGM and their rights.
Julia Lalla-Maharajh founder of the Orchid Project, a charity campaigning to end FGM, hailed the announcement as “historic”.
“This investment couldn’t come at a more important time, as we reach a tipping point in many countries, as more and more communities choose to stop cutting their daughters,” she said.
“DfID’s £50m investment recognises the increasingly urgent need to do more, to prevent girls from having to live with the often lifelong, devastating consequences of FGC [female genital cutting]. It also invests across the whole system of ending the practice, from working with communities for abandonment, through to using religion, legislation and to support work that stops medical workers practising.”
According to DfID, the project has already helped to reduce social acceptance of FGM by about 18% in the past two years. Six out of 18 states in Sudan have passed legislation banning FGM, even though a ban at a national level has yet to be passed. The Sudanese Midwifery Council has stopped its members cutting girls.
Malak Abdulrahman al-Awad, age 15, from Um al-Qura, is an active member of the club at her school and has managed to prevent girls undergoing FGM.
“I was cut and all my sisters are cut but I am an active member of the girls’ club. Everyone in my school is part of the girls’ club. We learned about the reporting of FGM and the consequences and how it is not religious.”
When she heard that her cousin was to be cut, she took action: “I went and saw the midwife and saw the girl had already begun to cut the girls. There were lots of girls there who were going to be cut.
“I went to my teacher. He reported this to the authorities who intervened and reported the midwife to the police,” she said.
“Then I spoke to the parents of the girls who had not yet been cut and I have told them they should not cut their daughters.”
Zeinab Ali, head of education in Malak’s home state of El Gezira, said clubs aim to empower girls “to have strong opinions in front of their mothers and grandmothers”, who usually make the decisions to have their daughters and granddaughters cut.
One mother, Aisha Dawoud, told the Guardian she now regretted having her only daughter cut when she was six.
“My daughter was sick and some people advised me that if I cut her she will be fine. I wish I hadn’t done it. I saw the consequences of being cut on myself, because it was very hard to give birth and during my period too.
“If I had another daughter, I won’t cut her,” she said.
Cyprus President apologises for paedophile pardon,
will not repeat mistake
By Evie Andreouwill not repeat mistake
President, Nicos Anastasiades, apologised on Tuesday for granting indiscriminate pardons to molesters of children over 13 and gave reassurances the same mistake would not be repeated.
During his address at the presentation of the Foni (Voice) council for the implementation of the national strategy to fight sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography, Anastasiades admitted to his error, which, he said, was weighing on his conscience.
He said that he wanted to apologise because, “during my election, by custom, while not well thought about, I had awarded a pardon by making a discrimination between those sexually abused considering that criminals who abused children over the age of 13 could qualify for the pardon.”
Anastasiades thanked the head of Foni, Anastasia Papadopoulou, “for pointing out to me this mistake.”
The necessary corrective changes have been made, he said. “I hope that the same mistake will not be repeated, not by myself of course, but by the one who succeeds me. Thank you very much Anastasia,” he said.
He was referring to the early release earlier in the year of a man convicted of sexually abusing a minor. The man returned to his home, to live without supervision in the same neighbourhood as his victim. He had received a pardon, along with others, on the occasion of Anastasiades’ re-confirmation as president. It transpired that it was the age criteria set by the justice ministry that made the man’s early release possible.
Apart from lifers, the criteria exclude from pardon those convicted for sexual offences against minors up to 13-years-old, or against minors up to the third degree of kinship. The victim in this case was over 13.
Papadopoulou last month handed Anastasiades her recommendations relating to the release of child molesters from prison on presidential pardon, mainly suggesting scrapping the practice.
During his address, Anastasiades said that the 10-member council, appointed last March, was more than a watchdog for the implementation of the national strategy to fight sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography. He said it is also the voice of victims but also the voice of the state and “of all those struggling to protect and shield children from sexual abuse and exploitation.”
The national strategy to fight sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography, he said, sets the policy directions and is taking the necessary measures and actions to combat these phenomena.
Τhe Foni council, he said, is tasked with promoting, assessing and monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, known as the Lanzarote Convention. Cyprus, he said, is among the few countries that have ratified the Convention.
Foni will also prepare the new national strategy for the next three years.
The coordinated effort by Foni, the ministerial committee that drafted the current national strategy and the Children’s Rights Commissioner, Leda Koursoumba, he said, “has placed our country among the pioneers in the European Union to combat these most heinous phenomena against children.”
Proof of the progress recorded concerning combating child sexual abuse in Cyprus, he said, is the fact that the Council of Europe (CoE) refers to the country “as exemplary model by welcoming the targeted measures we have taken.” The competent committee of the CoE which monitors the implementation of the Lanzarote Convention, Anastasiades said, has decided to organise conferences in Cyprus next year “in recognition of the important work and progress” made by the country in this area.
Anastasiades also referred to the Children’s House, that handles cases of children, victims of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Another innovative step, he said, was also the launch of the website of Foni that provides, round the clock, advice and help. The website, that also offers advice to parents, teenagers and teachers may be found at: http://foni.org.cy/
A few hours before Anastasiades’ public apology, media reports said that, in total seven persons convicted of sexual offences against children under 13 had benefited by the presidential pardon earlier in the year.
The data was reportedly given by the justice ministry to MPs. The ministry said that no more pardons will be given to paedophiles, reports said.
Starbucks to block patrons from
watching porn on WiFi
watching porn on WiFi
A Starbucks sign at one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19, 2018.
© Reuters / Mike Blake
The nonprofit internet safety organization Enough is Enough (EIE) slammed the coffee chain for “keeping the doors wide open for convicted sex offenders and others to fly under the radar from law enforcement and use free, public Wi-Fi services to access illegal child porn and hard-core pornography,” said CEO Donna Rice Hughes in a statement.
EIE has been leading a campaign to end porn access in Starbucks, and other US companies that supply free WiFi, since 2014, amassing nearly 50,000 signatures of support along the way. The statement said Starbucks promised to consider blocking porn access in 2016, as they already do in Europe, but has allegedly “not fulfilled that pledge.”
On Wednesday, Starbucks confirmed in a statement to Business Insider that they will be restricting customer viewing across its US locations from next year.
“To ensure the Third Place remains safe and welcoming to all, we have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our US locations in 2019,” said a company spokesperson.
Now where will the convicted pedophiles go?
Over the past two years, EIE has been successful in pressuring Subway, Chick-fil-A and McDonalds into filtering their free WiFi to prevent patrons from accessing porn.
Nice work EIE! God bless you.
RIP Tumblr? Blogging site plans ban on porn,
users outraged
Anything to reduce the level of pornography is a good thing.
The world would be an infinitely better place without it.
Whether this move by tumblr is another step in that direction,
or whether it is an experiment doomed to fail, only time will tell.
I'm guessing 3 months ought to be long enough to figure it out.
© Reuters / Thomas White
The ban will come into force on December 17, and will cover a wide spectrum of sexual content. “Photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts” will soon be banned from the platform, according to a statement from Tumblr.
Some exceptions will be made. Nipples will be a-okay as long as they’re shown in connection to breastfeeding or birth, post-operation shots of transsexual genitals are also cool, as are erotic stories, art and political statements involving nudity. Everything else will be flagged and deleted by the site’s algorithms.
Tumblr’s puritan turn didn’t come out of nowhere. Tumblr’s app was removed from the iOS App Store two weeks ago, after child pornography was discovered on the site. The network apologized for allowing the child porn to slip past its content filter, but the app remains unavailable.
“We’ve given serious thought to who we want to be to our community moving forward,” CEO Jeff D’Onofrio said in a blog post. “We’ve realized that in order to continue to fulfill our promise and place in culture, especially as it evolves, we must change.”
The masses haven’t welcomed the change, however. Twitter has been flooded with hundreds of thousands of comments, most of them outraged.
If Tumblr’s users are right, then the writing could be on the wall for the porn-friendly blogging site. D’Onofrio seemed unperturbed, writing in a blog post that porn users have “no shortage” of other sites to visit.
While there is, indeed, no shortage of porn sites on the internet, few encourage creativity and interactivity is usually limited to comments below videos left by viewers with one-track minds and a tenuous grasp on the English language. Some users pondered making the move to Twitter, but Twitter prohibits most adult content, and hands out bans fairly freely.
Ironically, an alternative found by commenters is the infamous ‘internet cesspool,’ 4Chan. With few rules, 4Chan allows almost any kind of image to be posted, save for child porn or other blatantly illegal content. An influx of Tumblr refugees might not please 4Chan’s anonymous user base of trolls and “weaponized autists” though, as those have been engaged in an on-off prank war with Tumblr for several years.
USL BOOSTS EFFORTS TO PROTECT ATHLETES
FROM SEXUAL ABUSE
STEVE STENERSEN | FUEL
US Lacrosse will now require all coaches to complete a national background screening and online training.
For years, we’ve counted on youth sports to be a haven for our children — an experiential classroom in which life lessons and fundamental values are introduced and tested in a controlled environment.
We’ve taken for granted that the coaches who work with our children are both qualified and honorable in their intentions to contribute positively to the healthy physical development of young players under their care.
Sadly, we can no longer assume that is true.
—
BECAUSE OF GROWING CONCERNS ABOUT THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN,
US LACROSSE HAS INVESTED SIGNIFICANTLY IN STRATEGIES TO REDUCE
THE RISK OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN LACROSSE.
—One in 10 children will be sexually abused before age 18, and one in eight athletes of all ages will be sexually abused within their sport. Sixty percent of sexual abuse occurs at the hands of someone we trust.
One in 10 ratio is inaccurate. It does not include peer-on-peer abuse. The real number is closer to one in 5 or 6.
I’ve written before about the importance of parents knowing who is coaching their child and what qualifications they should possess to effectively teach the sport at each development stage. US Lacrosse certification is the best way to identify coaches who have been properly trained to teach the sport. In addition to interactive online courses and practical on-field clinic experience, US Lacrosse-certified coaches undergo a background check conducted by the National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI).
Because of growing concerns about the safety of children, US Lacrosse has invested significantly in strategies to reduce the risk of physical and sexual abuse in lacrosse. We’ve hired a SafeSport program manager, Abby Morris, who is leading the development of model policies and guidelines for programs and leagues. We’ve partnered with the U.S. Center for SafeSport to provide mandatory sexual abuse training for US Lacrosse member coaches. And we recently announced that all US Lacrosse member coaches would undergo an NCSI criminal background screening at no additional cost as a benefit and condition of membership — a requirement to be completed upon their next join/renew transaction.
We’re investing more than $500,000 in our SafeSport program and hope that you will be a vocal advocate to help ensure widespread adoption in the best interest of our sport and the children who play it.
— Steve Stenersen, US Lacrosse CEO
US Lacrosse has ramped up its efforts to protect athletes from sexual abuse by requiring all coaches to complete a national background screening and online training. Both of these requirements will be provided at no additional cost to members.
US Lacrosse has partnered with NCSI (National Center for Safety Initiatives), an industry leader, for the background screenings. As of Oct. 15, anyone who joins the organization or renews as an adult coach member must initiate the national background screening within 10 days. Otherwise, his or her membership will be suspended, voiding the insurance coverage benefit.
While national background screenings are not a new practice at US Lacrosse, the online training requirement is driven in part by the Safe Sport Authorization Act.
The law, enacted by Congress earlier this year in response to the highly publicized arrest and criminal conviction of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, seeks to protect minors by expanding mandatory reporting regulations, requiring the completion of abuse awareness and prevention training, and instilling policies that limit one-on-one interactions.
US Lacrosse is collaborating with the U.S. Center for SafeSport to implement an online training course to further train and educate lacrosse stakeholders. Once completed, the online training will also become a requirement for adult coach membership.
“We have a duty to lead on this critically important issue,” said Steve Stenersen, president and CEO of US Lacrosse. “Our commitment to the welfare of athletes is paramount. There can be no tolerance for physical of sexual abuse of children in the sport of lacrosse.”
SAFE SPORT AUTHORIZATION ACT
In February, a new federal law with stricter mandates was enacted to prevent sexual abuse of minors in amateur sports. The sweeping legislation broadened mandatory child abuse reporting laws to all youth sports organizations, including US Lacrosse.
Under the new law, anyone affiliated with these organizations must:
Report sexual abuse to law enforcement or social service agencies within 24 hours.
Undergo abuse awareness and prevention training.
Implement policies limiting one-on-one interactions.
— Matt DaSilva, Editor in Chief
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