UK Child sex abuse inquiry widens scope to other religions outside Christianity for first time
Over 400 websites with child sexual abuse content blocked in Malaysia
Gabriella Swerling, religious affairs editor, Telegraph
Religious organisations across the country will be investigated for the first time, as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) announced it was widening its scope.
Faiths including Buddhism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Baptists and religious settings such as mosques and synagogues will all fall within the scope of the newly announced probe.
This marks the 14th strand in the investigation into child protection in religious organisations and settings.
The IICSA was set up in 2015 to investigate institutions which failed to protect children from sexual abuse. Prior to the announcement yesterday the investigation has only dealt with Christian cases when probing religion.
The new investigation will be separate from the investigations into the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches and will review the current child protection policies, practices and procedures in religious institutions in England and Wales.
In numbers | Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
£17.9m IICSA budget 2015/2016
155 staff members hired to date
3 resignations of inquiry heads
188 core participants in the inquiry
13 separate historic abuse investigations carried out by the inquiry
2,200 Communications from members of the public; many making allegations of abuse
35,000 documents being analysed by the inquiry’s legal team
Source: IICSA transcript July 2016
Organisations falling under the remit of this investigation will include non conformist Christian denominations, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Methodists, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. This investigation is separate from our investigations into the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.
Religious settings including mosques, synagogues, churches and temples will fall within the scope of the investigation. Places of faith tuition such as Muslim madrassahs and Christian Sunday schools and places where children and young people gather in connection with their religious beliefs, including youth groups and camps will also be investigated by the Inquiry.
Reacting to the announcement that IICSA was widening its religious scope, Dino Nocivelli, a specialist child abuse solicitor at BoltBurdonKemp and an ambassador for the Survivors Trust, welcomed the move. “Finally!” he tweeted. “IICSA has agreed to look into #childabuse in a number of religions to include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, Judaism and others #BreakTheSilence #StopChildAbuse.”
The IICSA said more than one in 10 survivors of child sexual abuse who shared their accounts with the inquiry's Truth Project reported sexual abuse in a religious institution.
Of these, almost a quarter said they were abused in institutions in the scope of the new investigation.
Organisations and individuals are being invited to apply for core participant status.
A preliminary hearing will take place in July and public hearings are expected to begin next year.
This is great news! I would expect some furious opposition from some quarters.
Over 400 websites with child sexual abuse content blocked in Malaysia
CYBERJAYA: From 2015 to 2018, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blocked more than 400 websites that contained child sexual abuse content through collaborations and information-sharing with Interpol and the Royal Malaysia Police.
MCMC’s chief compliance officer Zulkarnain Mohd Yassin said the action was taken under Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act which prohibits the content application service provider or other persons using the service to provide, produce or solicit indecent, obscene, false, menacing or offensive content with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.
“The MCMC worked with eight major telecommunications and internet service providers to make available parental control software at an affordable rate,” he said in his welcoming remarks at the Industry Seminar and Workshop on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse 2019 at the MCMC headquarters here yesterday.
The two-day seminar which began today was jointly organised by MCMC and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Zulkarnain said the success of ensuring a safe online environment for children depended on collaborations and cooperation with multi stakeholders and required a comprehensive role and increased media literacy as well as building resilience in a well-regulated environment.
Meanwhile, MCMC’s head of digital literacy department Elvira Shamsuddin in her presentation on trends in Malaysia said only 12.2 per cent of parents used parental control services to ensure their children’s online safety. — Bernama
“Other parents choose to check their child’s social media account or browser history, discuss with their children about online safety, sit with their children when they are using the Internet and set limits of Internet usage to their child,” she said.
Elvira said society needed to do more to ensure the safety and well-being of children when using the internet. — Bernama
PSNI set up specialist team to investigate
historical child sex abuse in Fermanagh
By Rodney Edwardshistorical child sex abuse in Fermanagh
The Impartial Reporter
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has announced it has begun an investigation into historical sexual abuse cases in Fermanagh.
The significant move follows weeks of interviews in this newspaper with victims of sex abuse cases.
In a statement released today (Friday) Head of Public Protection Branch Detective Chief Superintendent Paula Hilman said: “One of the roles of Public Protection Branch is to investigate historical child sexual abuse.
“Following recent reports we have started an investigation into historical cases in the Fermanagh area. We are taking this very seriously and I have appointed a team of specialist child abuse detectives and officers to work on this.
“Currently we are reviewing evidence and speaking to victims and this will take time. We will take that time. As head of Public Protection Branch, I, and detectives working alongside me, are committed to supporting victims and ensuring we thoroughly investigate these reports of historical sexual abuse whether in Fermanagh or other parts of Northern Ireland.
“You don’t have to come to a police station. You can also report directly to the police on 101 or through a dedicated email address at historicalabuse@psni.pnn.police.uk and we will arrange to meet you at a time and place that best suits you."
Singapore really ramps up stiffer punishments for
crimes against vulnerable people
crimes against vulnerable people
Police can arrest without warrant those who commit crimes against children, maids and the disabled
Tan Tam Mei
People who commit any crimes against vulnerable people, such as young children, maids and the disabled, can be arrested by the police even without a warrant, under a law passed by Parliament yesterday.
If found guilty, their punishment can be twice the maximum penalty, compared with 1.5 times previously for some offences.
Under the old law, non-arrestable offences require the police to obtain an arrest warrant to detain a suspect, but the change in the Penal Code "will allow the police to intervene quickly", said Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam during the debate on the Criminal Law Reform Bill.
Minister For Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam
The new law refers to crimes committed against children below age 14, those with mental or physical disabilities and domestic workers.
A major part of it gives stronger protection to those who cannot protect themselves, said Mr Shanmugam, who highlighted the case of a severely abused woman named Cindy that played a part in his resolve to change the law.
The case was brought to his attention by family violence specialist centre Pave.
Cindy suffered almost daily sexual abuse by her live-in partner for eight years. "Quite unspeakable. Two young children she had with the abuser witnessed all of this abuse," he said.
The police found her in 2000, almost completely blind, with slash wounds and broken bones all over her body.
With the new law, punishments will be harsher for specific offences against victims in intimate or close relationships with offenders, even if they are not married, like in Cindy's case.
HORRIFIC ABUSE
• Voyeurism, which involves the non-consensual observation or recording of a person doing a private act, will be a crime. It is also a crime to make, possess or distribute voyeuristic recordings.
• Sexual exposure, like flashing, will be a crime. This also covers cyber-flashing, where one is sent unsolicited explicit photos via messaging platforms.
• Revenge porn will be dealt with under the offence of distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images. It will cover cases where these images are obtained via unlawful access to databases or recordings.
• Specific laws against child abuse material will tackle the demand and supply of such content. The crimes will be extra-territorial and cover instances in which a Singaporean or permanent resident commits them overseas or where the offender or victim is based in Singapore.
• The new law will criminalise situations where one obtains sexual activity by deceiving or lying about the use of a sexually protective device or whether one is suffering from a sexually transmitted disease.
• It will be an offence to possess, distribute, import and produce child sex-dolls.
• In a new offence involving sexual exploitation of minors aged 16 to under-18, a key factor in determining exploitation will be the power imbalance between the accused and the minor.
CHANGES TO OFFENCES
• The scope of rape will be expanded to include all forms of penile penetration, including that of the anus and mouth. The old definition covers only penile-vaginal penetration.
• Marital immunity for rape will be repealed and marital rape will be criminalised without exception.
• Attempted suicide will no longer be a crime but abetment of attempted suicide, which includes physician-assisted suicide, will still be a crime.
Victims in intimate or close relationships with their abusers are two new groups that will be considered vulnerable victims.
The offences of rape against victims in these two groups, as well as wrongful confinement and causing hurt to them, can result in twice the maximum punishment.
Those in intimate relationships include people who live in the same household, share daily duties and rely on each other for financial support, while close relationships could refer to people living in the same household and those who have frequent contact with each other.
The new law includes new offences that address particularly the serious abuse of children, maids and people with disabilities.
For example, it is a crime to cause or allow the death of any of them in a situation where two or more people had the exclusive opportunity to cause the death, but they all deny any ill treatment of the victim.
It can be difficult to prove in court who committed or permitted the abuse, said Mr Shanmugam, noting that ambiguity under the old law could acquit those accused.
"This is not right... (With the changes), if you stood by and you allowed the child to be abused in this way, you can be charged," he said.
He also noted the case of waitress Annie Ee, a 26-year-old woman with low IQ who died in 2015 after eight months of torture by her flatmates.
In 2017, the couple, Tan Hui Zhen, 33, and her husband Pua Hak Chuan, 38, were jailed 16-1/2 years and 14 years respectively for causing grievous hurt. Pua was also given 14 strokes of the cane.
Under the new law, they could face up to 20 years of imprisonment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
Arizona becomes 12th state to pass law declaring porn a ‘public health crisis’
While these laws are virtually toothless, they do reflect a growing awareness of the destruction pornography causes in society. They still have much to learn about the harm it inflicts upon children and the frequency with which it is used to groom little children by pedophiles.
© Reuters / Russell Boyce
Arizona legislators have officially declared pornography a “public health crisis,” passing a bill urging the state to “systematically prevent exposure and addiction” – but insisting they won’t try to ban it outright.
The bill warns that “children are being exposed to pornography at an alarming rate, leading to low self-esteem, eating disorders, and an increase in problematic sexual activity at ever-younger ages.”
Adults aren’t safe either, suffering “toxic sexual behaviors, emotional, mental and medical illnesses and difficulty forming or maintaining intimate relationships.”
While proponents insist the resolution isn’t a plot to outlaw porn – its most direct provision urges the state to “educate individuals and families about [porn]’s harms and develop pornography-recovery programs” – some lawmakers want it to go further, while others denounce it as legislative virtue-signaling, worrying it distracts from actual public health crises like homelessness and opioid addiction.
“This bill, on its face, sounds like it might be a good idea, but it doesn’t have any teeth,” said Sen. Victoria Steele (D-Tucson) during discussion on the Senate floor. “It is a way for people to check off that box and make it look like they’ve done something.”
The resolution was passed by the Arizona Senate on Monday with 16 votes for and 13 against, having passed the House in February. It does not require the governor’s approval to become law.
Similar measures based on “model legislation” by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation have passed in 11 other states.
A related proposal, floated by an Arizona senator earlier this year, would charge residents a fee to access porn, requiring all internet-capable devices sold in the state to come pre-equipped with obscene-content filters. The money would then be used to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall.
That would be a good law to pass, although the money should go to fighting child sexual abuse, not building Trump's wall.
Law Ends Statute of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse
in Montana
Bill also opens one-year window for victims to file lawsuits
after statute of limitations has expired
BY AMY BETH HANSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Flathead Beacon
HELENA — A bill to change Montana’s child sexual abuse laws, including lifting the statute of limitations for prosecuting such crimes, was signed by the governor.
The bill , sponsored by Democratic Rep. Shane Morigeau, also extends the amount of time a victim of child sexual assault has to file a civil lawsuit against their abuser. It also opens a one-year window of opportunity for victims to file lawsuits, even if the statute of limitations has otherwise expired.
The changes were sparked by two eastern Montana cases that frustrated prosecutors, including one in which DNA testing identified a suspect in a 1987 child rape, but he couldn’t be prosecuted because the match was made after the statute of limitations had expired.
The bill, signed Tuesday, also makes it a felony for mandatory child abuse reporters to fail to report sexual abuse.
Legal awareness program on prevention of
child sexual abuse held in Kashmir
By K Reader child sexual abuse held in Kashmir
ANANTNAG: District Legal Services Authority in collaboration with Humanitarian Welfare Organisation Bijbehara organised legal awareness programme on prevention of child sexual abuse at Dak Bungliw Anantnag on Saturday.
Scores of school children including a good number of differently abled-children participated in the programme.
The programme included awareness about child sexual violence and laws to protect children from sexual violence. The differently-abled students from various schools were sensitised about child sexual abuse and important provisions of J&K POCSV Ordinance of 2018.
Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge High court, who is also the Executive Chairman of J&K, State Legal Services Authority was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that differently-abled children are an integral part of our society and they should be treated accordingly. He added that we need to guide them properly and they will make wonders in all spheres of life. He applauded the efforts of Javid Ahmad Tak, the founder of Humanity Welfare Organisation for running a Special School for the differently-abled children. He added that all the schools have been sensitized that no differently-abled student should be refused the admission.
He reiterated that need of the hour is to properly aware and educate the children regarding the child sexual abuse, its repercussions and proper counselling of the victims. He further said that government has provided various facilities for the empowerment of the differently- abled children and adults and laws governing the safeguard and empowerment of the differently-abled persons, beside their reservation in government jobs. He added that we are looking into conducting annual competitions for children in the State.
Earlier Principal & Sessions Judge Anantnag, Mohammad Ashraf Malik welcomed the guests and apprised them about the efforts being done for the welfare of the specially-abled children.
On the occasion, a painting competition and a cultural programme of differently-abled children was also organised and participants were awarded with certificates and mementos. Also a documentary on child sexual abuse was displayed.
UK Police Chief says social media boycott
‘may be necessary to protect children’
IICSA to hold hearings on social media's lack of response
Kate Buck
A boycott of social media has been called to help tackle social media (Picture: PA)
A senior police officer has called for a boycott of social media to ‘eradicate’ indecent imagery of children.
Chief constable Simon Bailey said tech companies have not safeguarded children and are only now taking action over fears of ‘reputational damage’.
He said sanctions such as fines will be ‘little more than a drop in the ocean’ to big online platforms but that government measures could be a ‘game changer’ if it leads to effective punitive action.
Mr Bailey is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on child protection and said he has so far not seen anything that suggests online platforms are ‘taking their responsibilities seriously enough’. He said: ‘Ultimately I think the only thing they will genuinely respond to is when their brand is damaged.
Starting on Monday, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will hold two weeks of hearings focusing on internet companies’ responses to the problem.
The number of images on the child abuse image database has ballooned from less than 10,000 in the 1990s to more than 13.4 million.
The UK response involves building resilience in children as young as primary school age so they are better equipped to recognise potential exploitation.
Last month the Government opened a consultation over tough new measures to crack down on illegal content online, proposing an independent regulator and new duty of care for internet companies. Mr Bailey believes if effective regulation is put in place it could free up resources to begin tackling the vaster dark web.
Marriott International Training All Employees
to Recognize Human Trafficking
Joining Hilton and Hyatt as the only chains to recognize trafficking
By Susan Hogan, Meredith Royster and Perkins Broussard
Marriott International is in the middle of a huge effort to make sure all employees at each of its properties are trained to recognize human trafficking.
Brijae Sledge, a bartender at the Renaissance in downtown D.C. recently completed the training. "I definitely keep a close ear and a close eye on things that are going on," she said.
She's one of almost a half-million Marriott employees who have completed mandatory training.
Employees learn the classic signs of human trafficking, like guests paying in cash one day at a time and various men being escorted to a room. They also learn about disturbing real-life situations that happened on Marriott properties where trained employees saved people.
The message is clear: They have to be vigilant and involved.
“As a hotel company, Marriott International is taking a proactive approach on this,” Director of Social Impact and Global Responsibility Tu Rinsche said. “We're not ignoring the issue; we're not denying it. We accept that, and unfortunately it happens in hotels.”
And it's happening at record rates, according to Ending Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT), a global network working to end the exploitation of children.
“This training is extremely urgent,” said Michelle Guelbart, of ECPAT. “This is the most important industry to train on this issue, period.”
But according to ECPAT, only three major hotel chains worldwide — Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton — make the training mandatory for all employees.
ECPAT is building a database where guests can see whether the hotel they book makes the grade.
“You'll be able to see in the first year what companies have policies, how many are training, who's training, what is that training, what does it look like,” Guelbart said.
NJ Governor signs bill easing limit on sex abuse lawsuits
By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday to ease restrictions on when childhood sexual abuse victims can seek damages in court, an action that comes after a wave of details last year about the abuse of minors in the Roman Catholic Church.
Murphy said in a statement that he recognized opponents' worries that the expanded statute, which allows victims to sue institutions, will expose organizations to financial liability. But that is outweighed by concern over victims, the first-term Democrat said.
"I cannot deny victims the ability to seek redress in court for sexual abuse that often leaves trauma lasting a lifetime," he said in a statement accompanying his signature.
The legislation allows child victims to sue up until they turn 55 or within seven years of their first realization that the abuse caused them harm. The current statute of limitations is age 20 or two years after first realizing the abuse caused harm.
The bill also would give a two-year window to victims who were previously barred by the statute of limitation. It also allows victims to seek damages from institutions.
While the Catholic Church has been a focal point of debate on the legislation, other institutions like the Boy Scouts would also be liable under the new law. Attorneys in New Jersey and elsewhere have begun recruiting people to sue the organization, which along with the church says it now has policies in place to sharply curtail abuse.
Many states have overhauled their criminal and civil statutes of limitations since the 2002 Boston Globe reporting detailing abuse in the Catholic Church. But just a handful, including California, Delaware, Hawaii and Minnesota, have created so-called lookback windows for lawsuits. New York enacted a bill earlier this year that creates a window similar to the one in New Jersey, which already has no statute of limitations on criminal charges.
The legislation has been on lawmakers' radar for nearly a decade, but it comes soon after the state's five Catholic dioceses released the names of 188 priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors over a period of decades. It also comes after they announced in February the creation of a compensation fund for victims.
New Jersey's attorney general launched a task force in September to investigate the clergy abuse scandal. That investigation came on the heels of a lengthy grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania that concluded more than 1,000 children had been abused over a span of decades by about 300 priests.
The bill had broad support from lawmakers and victims' advocacy groups. The committee hearings on the bill featured hours of emotional testimony, including a family of sisters who said they were preyed on by a now-deceased priest who came to their Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, parish in the 1980s after working in New Jersey.
Among those opposed to the measure were the state Catholic Conference and the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute.
Patrick Brannigan, the conference's executive director, told lawmakers that the New Jersey church is fully cooperating with state law enforcement officials who are investigating abuse claims in the state.
The church, he added, "sincerely regrets that some in the church failed to protect children."
Sounds like a "some people did some things" kind of excuse. The Catholic Church in its entirety failed tens of thousands of children and their parents. Thousands of priests and lay people were directly involved and, at least, tens of thousands more new about it and did nothing, or, as in the case of countless bishops, enabled these predators to do their evil.
The church has to stop trying to minimize their guilt and maximize their repentance. It seems that's a long way off yet.
The church agrees with the intent of the bill but differs on its approach, asking instead that the bill's in-effect date of Dec. 1, 2019, be made later, Brannigan said.
Murphy also said that lawmakers have committed to send him a new bill correcting an error in the new law. Specifically, Murphy said, part of the law fails to establish a standard of proof for cases against public entities.
Failing to hold them to the same standard as other institutions would be "unjustified," Murphy said, and the new legislation would hold public entities to the same standard as other organizations.
Hmmm. I'm not sure I trust this 'correction'!
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