Germany joins tiny host of European nations by making 'upskirting' punishable crime
FILE PHOTO © REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
German MPs have followed their UK and French colleagues, backing legislation that carries a fine or even a prison term for taking unsolicited photos under somebody's clothing.
The Bundestag voted in favor of a law on "improving privacy protection" this Friday, thus outlawing the practice.
From now on, anyone trying to film under somebody's clothing in order to see their underwear or private parts will face a fine or a maximum prison term of up to two years. Under existing laws, upskirting was deemed a minor offence punishable only by a small fine.
Minister Christine Lambrecht, who championed the legislation, welcomed the news, saying that to photograph a woman under her skirt or bust line is "a shameless violation of her privacy."
Upskirting gained notoriety around the world following the advent of high-definition smartphone cameras. Its victims are often sought out on public transport and in other crowded places, and images or videos usually appear on adult websites or are shared online.
Germany has effectively followed in the footsteps of England and Wales, which criminalized upskirting in 2019, with France having outlawed the practice the year prior.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect it is not the idea of seeing a woman's private areas that drives this madness, but that it violates their privacy. It is very much like paedophilia in that it violates the innocence of a child. It's about doing something illegal, or sinful, and getting away with it. It is a mental illness!
Bangladeshis speak up about 'rampant' rapes
in Islamic schools
Dhaka (AFP)Former Bangladeshi students are turning to social media to detail allegations of "rampant" sex abuse at the hands of teachers and older pupils in Islamic schools, breaking their silence on a taboo topic in the conservative country.
Child abuse in madrasas has long gone unreported in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation where hardline Islamist groups draw their support from the tens of thousands of schools across the nation of 169 million people.
But in the wake of a brutal murder of a teenage girl who was burnt to death in April after accusing her headteacher of sexual assault, such incidents have been subject to national scrutiny and debate for the first time.
In July alone, at least five madrasa teachers have been arrested on rape charges against boys and girls under their care.
Several senior students were also held by police over the rape and beheading of an 11-year-old orphan, while a Dhaka cleric and seminary teacher was charged with sexually assaulting a dozen boys aged between 12 and 19.
The accusations reveal how students from poorer and rural backgrounds, whose parents send them to madrasas as they are more affordable than secular schools, are disproportionately affected by the abuse.
Rights activists said the assaults -- which range from violent rapes to forcible kissing -- are so pervasive that the cases reported in the media are just the tip of the iceberg.
"For years these crimes eluded spotlight due to sensitivity of the subject," Abdus Shahid, the head of child rights' group Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum, told AFP.
"Devout Muslims send children to madrasas, but they don't speak up about these crimes as they feel it would harm these key religious institutions."
- 'Widespread and rampant' -
Hojaifa al Mamduh, who studied in three madrasas in the capital Dhaka, published a series of posts on Facebook in July detailing the abuses endured by students including himself.
The assaults were "so widespread in the madrasas, every student who has studied there knows about it", Al Mamduh, now a journalism student at a Dhaka University, told AFP.
"Many madrasa teachers I know consider sex with children a lesser crime than consensual extramarital sex with women. Since they live in the same dormitories, the perpetrators can easily hide their crimes and put pressure on their poor students to keep mum."
The 23-year-old's posts generated heated debate in the country, and he was personally threatened.
He was accused of being "an agent of Jews and Christians" and smearing the "sacred image" of a madrasa by one social media user.
Another reminded him of the fate of Avijit Roy, a top Bangladeshi atheist blogger and writer who was hacked to death by Islamist extremists in 2015.
But his posts encouraged others to share their own experiences of alleged sex crimes.
Mostakimbillah Masum, who published his story on a feminist website, said he was "first raped by an elder student in my madrasa when I was just seven".
The 25-year-old told AFP that another one of his rapists was "a teacher who made me unconscious and raped me. It traumatised me permanently".
"Dozens of madrasa students I know were either raped or witnessed rapes and sexual assaults of their fellow students," he added. "It is so rampant almost every madrasa has a fair share of such stories."
- Culture of impunity -
Madrasa teachers have strongly denied the allegations, calling them "negative propaganda".
Mahfuzul Haq, a principal of a madrasa in Mohammadpur where Al Mamduh studied, told AFP "one or two isolated incidents can happen" as there were 20,000 madrasas in the South Asian nation.
"Those who don't like to study in madrasas are spreading these stories," he added.
A spokesman for hardline Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islami, which represents a coalition of thousands of madrasas, said his organisation told a recent conference of 1,200 principals to take "tough stand against any sex crimes".
However, there has been growing acknowledgment of the alleged offences.
Pro-Islamic website Fateh24.com, viewed as a voice for the madrasas, pointed out in a report that children were at risk in smaller seminaries run by just one or two teachers and that had no oversight from governing bodies.
Editor Iftekhar Jamil, a former madrasa student and teacher, added that the cases were "not isolated" incidents and called for closed-circuit cameras to be installed in students' sleeping quarters.
"Instead of looking for conspiracies, these madrasas must take up responsibility and adopt an action plan to tackle these crimes," he told AFP.
Keep speaking up people! The stigma barriers are beginning to fall and the truth is beginning to emerge. Do what you have to do to keep it going. And may God bless and protect you.
Beauty queen leads war against child abuse,
teenage pregnancy in Nigeria
In recent times, child abuse has become a major issue in Nigeria with many recorded cases. In developed and developing countries, teenage pregnancy continues to receive increased attention as a result of the rate at which young people engage in sexual activities, which mostly lead to unplanned and unintended pregnancies.
Speaking on the development, queen Joy Nwafor Chwukwu winner Miss Pride of Nigeria Ambassador 2019, said, “A child is a priceless jewel that do not need any emotional trauma at her early stage. Through my pet project, a programme is already mapped out to tackle this menace. Although child abuse occurs in Nigeria, it has received little attention.”
According to her, the initiative aims at fighting against sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy, as well as encourages victims to come out and tell their stories through a radio show, The Psychologist.
“My intentions is to use the platform to address child molestation and teenage pregnancy in our society, to expose sexual predators and create a support system for victims. Through this project, we want to get the authorities to do more to support children against sexual abuse,” she hinted.
Billed to go on air after COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the programme is designed as a radio talk show and it will feature a special segment, where real life stories of people that have experienced child molestation and teenage pregnancy will share their experiences every week.
“The stories are real life, heart breaking stories of people that have experienced child sexual molestation and teenage pregnancy while growing up. We have a team of researchers that source for true-life stories of child/sexual abuse and molestation,” she noted.
However, Joy said informed that the foundation would not be doing this alone, as it intends to partnership other institutions, including the Nigerian Police, Abia State Government and other NGOs.
“Joy Chukwu Foundation is on a war against child abuse and teenage pregnancy and to advocate for the sexually abused children, victims, and teenage pregnancy,” she said.
Scotland Supreme Court ruling 'seen as green light
for paedophile hunters'
By Victoria Weldon
Herald Scotland
The Supreme Court rejected a claim by Mark Sutherland that the use of evidence from paedophile hunters breached his human rights.
Legal experts have warned that a Supreme Court ruling in a case involving paedophile hunters could be viewed as a “green light” for vigilante groups.
Senior lawyers have raised serious concerns about the “dangerous” actions of paedophile hunters following the judgment in the case of convicted sex offender Mark Sutherland, who was snared by a group posing online as a 13-year-old boy.
The decision, which saw the court reject Sutherland’s claims that the use of evidence from Groom Resisters Scotland breached his human rights, has also led to Police Scotland urging the public not to take the law into their own hands.
Sutherland’s lawyers argued that the covert investigation, and its use by the Crown Office, breached his right to a private life. However, the court found that the interests of children take priority.
Go figure! The court taking the interests of children over criminals!
The case has been claimed as a “victory” by Groom Resisters, however Advocate Brian McConnachie QC, a former senior prosecutor, said there are serious concerns within the legal community about such groups.
He said: “The major concern I have is that these groups are now likely to consider that they have the green light to do what they want, effectively.
“I also have concerns that groups such as this might consider that they should perhaps have the power to administer punishment and this will lead to situations we’ve seen before – people being driven out of their houses, or images being published on social media and so on.
“And there is also a fear that this might encourage vigilante groups in connection with other crimes.”
Mr McConnachie added that when police carry out operations like this, they have to operate under strict controls, while paedophile hunter groups can take action “unfettered by any controls”. “The problem is all of these groups are unregulated in any sense,” he said.
Solicitor Advocate John Scott QC added that the judgment “hardly discourages vigilante groups” and claimed that the legal system has to walk a fine line between prosecuting cases when evidence is presented and discouraging such activity.
He said: “Real care has to be taken by the courts to say we’re not excusing this, but we’re not letting a paedophile go as a result of it. These groups may think they have right on their side, but no one is entitled to take the law into their own hands. Society does not need the wolf pack or the vigilantes.
“They actually get in the way of the police doing their job, they run the risk of - at some point - the court throwing out a case because of what they have done, and they run the risk of innocent people wrongly being identified by them.”
Thomas Ross QC said that while he saw no problem with groups posing as children online and then handing over information to the police as soon as contact is made, there is concern when vigilantes decide to go further than that.
Sutherland was convicted in August 2018 of attempting to communicate indecently with an older child. The 37-year-old had been messaging someone on Grindr who claimed to be a 13-year-old boy. He sent explicit pictures and made arrangements to meet the “boy”, who was in fact 48-year-old Paul Devine, a member of Groom Resisters Scotland.
When Sutherland turned up at Partick Bus Station in Glasgow, he was met with two members of the group who confronted him and broadcast the meeting on social media. Police were called and the group handed over their evidence.
Sutherland, who had previously been jailed for sending explicit pictures to a 12-year-old boy, went on to lodge his appeal at the UK’s highest court.
Lord Sales delivered his judgment via videolink on Wednesday and stated that the panel of five justices found that there was no interference with the accused’s rights under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
He said this was for two reasons - the first being that “the activity in question should be capable of respect”, and that children also have rights. Lord Sales said the state had “a special responsibility to protect children against sexual exploitation by adults”.
“This indicates that there is no protection under Article 8 for the communications by the accused in this case.” he said. “The interests of children have priority over any interest a paedophile could have in being allowed to engage in the criminal conduct in issue here.”
Data from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) shows that almost half of online grooming cases result from the activities of “unregulated and untrained” vigilante groups.
In its report in February 2020, the Inspectorate stated: “A more robust proactive capability on the part of Police Scotland would reduce the opportunities for these groups to operate.”
Pedophile-chasing cop jumps from 13th floor window, w/o looking, to nab suspect in Kazakhstan
FILE PHOTO © Reuters / Frank Polich
Police Major Bakytzhan Bakirov was taking part in an operation to apprehend a man, who had earlier broken into an apartment in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, stealing a large sum of money and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
Bakytzhan Bakirov © Policia.kz
Bakirov had posed as a plumber to get inside the suspect's rented flat, located on the 13th floor of a residential building. However, sensing that something wasn't right, the alleged criminal attempted to flee, deciding to jump out the window in a near-suicidal move.
A 13th floor is typically more than 30 meters high, but the dedicated cop followed the fleeing suspect without any hesitation.
"There was only one thought in my head – I must detain him! I wasn't thinking of anything else. I didn't even understand how I made that jump, but there was no fear," Bakirov recalled in an interview with the Kazakh police website.
The rash move could well have ended badly for the officer, but luckily he landed on a terrace that was just two floors below. "I had no idea it was there," he said.
The suspect, who chose the window as an escape route, apparently knew about the terrace. It didn't help him much, however, as Bakirov gained on him and didn't let go until the reinforcements arrived. And the 36-year-old did all that despite seriously fracturing his foot in the fall.
The officer confessed that he only became scared after everything was over. There was a real chance that the man was just trying to commit suicide to avoid answering for his crimes, he said. But catching the pedophile became personal for Bakirov, who is himself a father of six.
The heroic policeman was awarded with a medal after the episode. He has already undergone three surgeries on his injured foot, but the doctors are optimistic about the prognosis. "They say I'll be able to chase after criminals again soon," Bakirov said.
This whole incident is reminiscent of a scene from hit cop comedy 'The Other Guys,' in which two super detectives played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson decide to jump from the roof of tall building during a chase… but end up not as lucky as Bakirov.
You are my hero, Major Bakirov! God bless you with quick and complete healing.
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