Pakistan's K-P Province to revive child protection units
Minister says govt to hire 96 people for their operation
The Express-TribunePESHAWAR:
With dozens of incidents of sexual abuse against children registered with the social welfare department over the past five years, the provincial government on Friday said that it is working to revive the child protection units.
As the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly resumed on Friday, after a week-long recess, Social Welfare Minister Dr Hisham Inamullah said that they have amended the rules for the child protection unit and after endorsement from the provincial cabinet, they will be recruiting for 96 posts in the units to make them operational.
Responding to queries from lawmakers, he said that a law on child protection was passed in 2010, which envisioned the creation of child protection units across the province.
Four units were set up by UNICEF in 2011, while another eight were set up by other non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These 12 units operated until 2019, registering some 3,900 cases.
The minister said that on March 31, 2019, UNICEF handed over its four units to the government to run. Dr Inamullah said that after taking charge of the ministry, he started work to recruit vacant posts, including the chief protection officer.
He added that last year, the Finance Department had approved 96 posts in these units. But when they started the process, they ran into some problems with the rules. Now, the rules have been amended and will be presented to the cabinet for approval soon.
At this, members of the opposition protested the stalled child protection units and women’s Commission.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai said that those members of the house should be included in the standing committees and special committees who can give their time for the resolution of problems.
The Social Welfare Department said that it had registered 303 cases in the past five years. It said that they registered 49 cases of child sexual abuse in Abbottabad, followed by Mardan with 48 cases and Charsadda was third with 46 cases. Swabi had 43 cases, Bannu 27, Swat 23, Lower Dir 14, Buner 12, Chitral 11, Kohat nine, and Battagram nine.
The provincial capital of Peshawar only registered 12 cases during this time.
Something seriously amiss there!!!
Of the 303 cases detected or registered by the Social Welfare Department, 296 cases involved boys and 97 involved girls. No cases of abuse were registered against people who are transgender.
The most number of boys abused in a single district was Charsadda with 35, while Abbottabad was top for the number of girls abused at 22 cases.
There is little doubt that girls or their families are not reporting for any number of reason. Consequently, the real number of girls being sexually abused is exponentially above what has been reported.
How Kiwi mum, Tania Carr, went from
living in a state house to being a CEO
NZ Herald
By: Cloe Willetts
When Tania Carr drove from the bottom of the North Island to start a new life in Auckland at 21, she never knew it'd lead to a blossoming six-figure corporate career.
As a solo mum with no qualifications, but searing passion, Tania went on to manage multi-million-dollar companies. The mum of three, now a business entrepreneur, is a Kiwi success story.
But things weren't always so glistening for the Titahi Bay local. "All my life, I've worked damn hard and built a really good reputation in executive roles," Tania says. "But I used to want to hide my background in case it affected how people saw me. Now, I know it's all part of my story, and I want other women to hear it."
Tania, 43, was raised in Cannon's Creek, Porirua, in a state house with five younger sisters. Gang members came and went, and there were regularly parties and violence, and it wasn't abnormal for her father to serve prison time.
"I lived in that whole low socio-economic environment with drugs and alcohol," she recalls. "I saw things no child ever should, like women dragged by their hair over gravel roads and bottles smashed over heads."
"I use to think it's the way you're raised that determines your personality, but it's not." Photo / Supplied
Part of the trauma Tania now speaks openly about on her podcast, The Coach Carr Channel, is childhood sexual abuse. She explains, "It's taken me a while to accept that some of the uglier sides of my story needed be told too because every experience has shaped who I am today. I could've been another statistic, and I want women to see they don't have to be."
From an early age, Tania dreamed of escaping her hometown for bigger things. "I used to sit on the back porch and pray my heart out for some kind of miracle," she shares. "I'd try and telepathically communicate with the neighbours, hoping somebody would ask if everything was ok."
She left home for the first time at 15, escaping her bedroom window one night. "My boyfriend's aunty knew some of what was going on at home and said I could go there. That was my olive branch."
But gang associates soon started door knocking to find her and so Tania moved on, accepting an offer to stay with a local woman trying to make it as a singer. "She needed a live-in babysitter, so I took care of her kids. We ate potato skins I'd peeled because that's all we had. We were as poor as anything, but at least I was safe."
A year later, at sixteen, Tania found out she was pregnant.
Tania with two of her children. Photo / Supplied
"I had my beautiful daughter Shaianne, now 25, but things with her dad eventually ended," Tania tells. "I got into some abusive relationships and thought, 'I can either go down the same track and be like the environment I grew up in, or I can choose to provide my daughter with a better life'." She enrolled in a business computer diploma at 18.
"Over summer, people on my course asked what part-time job I'd get, and I hadn't ever thought about it," she laughs. "My parents didn't work, and I was like, 'Ok, is this what you do?'"
She landed her first job at a women's fashion retailer chain, as a casual. "I just fell in love with retail, and when they offered me a permanent assistant manager's position, I left to study," she enthuses. "I learnt so much, and the environment shaped me as a person. It taught me right from wrong, and I thrived."
At 21, a colleague asked Tania if she wanted to move to Auckland with her. "My work transferred me to a huge beast of a store, and our house was on the other side of Auckland," she remembers. "Shaianne and I got up at five in the morning to commute, and a taxi picked her up for school, which enabled me to work. I cranked up the credit card with the rides and all my gas."
Then the company made Tania store manager, followed by regional training manager and later, regional manager for Wellington. By mid-20 Tania, "the little girl from Cannon's Creek", was national manager for all of New Zealand, paying off her credit cards and saving thousands of dollars for her first home.
She left after 10 years, before being snapped up as regional manager for three high-end jewellery brands. "I had a lot of control and worked there for nine years. Then I decided it was time to have a baby."
Throughout her pregnancy, Tania relished the idea of being a stay-home mum, who'd take her baby to pilates and enjoy coffee dates. "Man was I wrong!" says Tania, who developed postnatal depression after the birth of her daughter Ryleigh, four. "I had a really challenging baby, put on a tonne of weight and just didn't cope. I'd shut the curtains and pretend I wasn't home when people came over and spent days crying."
When she welcomed her son Kayden, two, Tania was still in a dark hole and admits, "I'd completely lost myself."
It was a visit from her sister-in-law, leading social media influencer Makaia Carr, which helped Tania get back on her feet.
"Makaia was worried and said, 'Come on, we need to get you back!' and over a wine I told her about my dream to run a recruitment business. She said, 'Well, let's do it!' and after she left, I stayed up brainstorming and planning. I felt my business mind coming back and was so excited!"
Over two years later, Tania is now the owner of The Recruitment Hub NZ and her newest venture, The Coaching Hub, having qualified as a transformative coach.
"I've absolutely found myself again, and my work aligns with my passion, which is helping people. I use to question why I was working so hard, but now I understand I did that groundwork so I could be here."
This Saturday, Tania will share her story at Real Talk, an event she co-founded with friend Siobhan Samuel. Taking place in Wellington and streaming live online, it includes stories from a panel of other inspiring women including Greer Perenara, wife of All Black TJ Perenara, and Makaia Carr.
"The whole kaupapa is if we can change one life in the audience, we've done our job," Tania smiles. "I started healing when I began telling my story, and that's the message I want to send out. I'm proof that regardless of where you come from, it's where you choose to go."
Welsh child abuse victim speaks out after brother paid her for sex when she was just eight
'Megan' was on the brink of suicide before she turned her life around thank to the help of North Wales charity, Stepping Stones
By Kelly Williams, North Wales Live
A brave woman has broken her silence about how she put her shattered life back together after she was sexually abused by her older brother at the age of eight.
Megan - not her real name - was given money by her older sibling to keep quiet and mentally "blanked out" years of her childhood.
The 58-year-old is now hoping to become a teacher and work with troubled children.
She said: "When I was eight my older brother interfered with me, he gave me money to keep quiet. It went on for years. I remember being eight and I remember being 10 but the two years in the middle I can remember very little. I’ve blanked it out.
“I remember being 10 when my sister told my mum and my brother, and we had a conversation in the front room. I can’t remember what was said exactly but I felt I was blamed. It was like he was only practising for when he got a girlfriend. I was even called a whore for taking money from him.
“I never spent the money I just put it away, I really didn’t want it and just wanted the abuse to stop. But after the talk with mum, my brother was never left alone with me again."
What followed was some bad choices in Megan's life and emotional scars which still run deep.
She said: “I was married at 20 and divorced at 22. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I was running away and had no one to talk to and my husband never understood what happened.
“Being married at 20 was a mistake, I was quickly pregnant but my husband was pretty horrible and beat me black and blue. We had two children. After we split up we got back together again but it was never going to work out."
Sadly, one of Megan's children committed suicide after a battle with depression.
Megan was referred to Stepping Stones which offers free counselling across North Wales.
She added: “I was going 50 shades of mental at the time and I didn’t care what happened to me. I’d drive at ludicrous speeds and took stupid risks. I just didn’t care. I was always anxious and had just let things build up. I was like a bottle of pop that had been shaken and was ready to blow.
“I worked with a Stepping Stones North Wales therapist for two years and I won’t pretend it was easy. It was even more difficult when my son died. Therapy isn’t easy. It’s like pulling a scab off your life and allowing all the badness to flow.
“Stepping Stones North Wales not only saved my life, it gave me my life. I joined their survivors’ group and started going to their maths and English education classes which enabled me to get my GCSEs.
“I then enrolled in college and did a two-year access course and applied to university. I’ve now completed the first year of a degree and can’t wait for the second year to start once the pandemic eases.
“My dream now is to finish my degree and then to teach. I’d like to work with difficult children, those that have had bad experiences too. I can understand them and will always listen to their story.”
Stepping Stones North Wales Events and Volunteer Manager Shirley McCann describes Megan as an inspiration. She said: “Initially she lacked confidence and had no self-esteem, but she has blossomed... I feel so proud of her.
“Without the financial backing from the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones we really couldn’t do what we do. The phone rings everyday with victims seeking help and support. We are a small charity, just four members of staff and of course we have trained counsellors ready to help.
Commissioner Arfon Jones said: “Megan’s story is both heartbreaking and inspirational. Sexual abuse is a serious crime that has long-lasting consequences for victims.
“However, thanks to the work of Stepping Stones North Wales counsellors and the Next Step Group she is flourishing and making a new life for herself, one she richly deserves.
“I see Stepping Stones North Wales as a vital service. Sexual abuse is a hidden crime and something we, as a society, need to address."
The NZ Government is upgrading its system
for blocking child abuse websites
Katie KennyTHE DETAIL/RNZ
The Government is upgrading its system for blocking websites that host child sexual abuse images from today.
The Department of Internal Affairs set up the system, known as the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System, in March 2010. It’s voluntary for internet service providers, but the majority use it to help prevent their customers from accessing illegal websites.
The system prevents more than 10,000 attempts to access 600-odd banned sites from New Zealand every month.
In May, the Government advertised to replace the current software, powered by NetClean’s Whitebox, saying it had come to the end of its life. The same month, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin introduced a long-awaited bill updating the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993.
The proposed legislation would allow DIA to bring the child exploitation filter into law, and extend it to also filter content deemed objectionable by the chief censor’s office.
In the tender documents, DIA said: “In the future, the department may need to filter violent extremism content. Please advise if and how your solution could be expanded to provide filtering on this content when other protocols (e.g. peer to peer) are used.”
Peer-to-peer refers to the direct sharing of information between computers. Filtering it would, presumably, require interception.
InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter said he has no issues with the current, voluntary filter system, but has concerns about an expanded and state-sanctioned one.
“Combining filtering with state power is associated with problems and undemocratic regimes. At the most extreme end, you have countries that do whole internet shutdowns where Governments have just flicked off the switch for everyone and everything online.”
The tender was awarded this month to Israel-based company, Allot Limited; a multinational provider of network intelligence and security solutions.
In a statement, digital director of safety Jared Mullen said: “The current DCEF provider is maintaining the filter until July 31. We are implementing a more modern, stable solution from a new provider and expect to cut over shortly without any gap in service.”
The issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse online is growing worldwide and there are indications the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the problem.
Referrals of online child exploitation material to the United States-based National Center for Exploited and Missing Children have increased from 1 million in 2014 to over 18 million in 2018.
Numbers doubled under CV19 lockdown
New Zealand has a monthly average of 270 incoming referrals from the centre. In April, when the country was in lockdown, the numbers were double what they were during the same month last year.
Mohawks hold healing walk for sexual assault survivors
in Kahnawake, Que
Jessica Deer · CBC News
Dozens of community members took to the streets of Kahnawake, Que., Thursday evening to send a message to sexual assault survivors in the Mohawk community that they're believed and supported.
"We're stopping the cycle of expressing our trauma in a negative way and are actually starting to heal ourselves, and unapologetically taking care of ourselves," said Wakenhnhiióhstha Montour.
Montour, a 26-year-old sexual assault survivor, was one of the many young women who helped organized the walk in the wake of dozens of allegations made on social media over the last two weeks in Kahnawake and Akwesasne via anonymous Twitter accounts. While the original accounts were removed last week, another has since been created.
"No matter what age it happened to you at, your story is valid," said Montour.
"How you feel is valid; it doesn't matter how they feel. It's about how you feel about your body, your happiness. Don't for one second let anybody put your story down.
Wakenhnhiióhstha Montour is one of many young women in Kahnawake, Que. who helped organize the walk.
(Jessica Deer/CBC)
"We're here to let everybody know the message we're all here together, we're all here to help each other and don't ever feel afraid. We're not going to stop this work of self-help and healing among our community."
For Donna McComber, participating in the walk was a way to support her family, some of whom shared their stories through the anonymous Twitter accounts.
"We have to help each other carry it so no one carries it themselves. That's the biggest priority is knowing that they're not alone," she said.
"The whole thing is about is asking for help, and getting help because we have the resources. It's not anything to be ashamed about. The most important thing to remember is that it was not your fault."
That sentiment was carried by many of the women who shared their own stories and journey to heal at a rally following the walk. Lindsay Thomas said she spoke to let community members who aren't ready to come forward with their stories know that it's OK.
"It doesn't make you any less strong," she said.
"It's through this [movement] that I managed to find the strength to give others strength. We all have the goal to be happy in life and if I can help someone's journey just a little bit then that's a risk I'm willing to take."
Thomas shared her experience with 12 years of counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy to deal with depression, guilt, shame, and anxiety experienced as a result of years of sexual abuse.
"It was something I really needed to do because all I thought was I'm ugly, I'm worthless, I don't deserve happiness. These were things I made myself believe," said Thomas.
"For a long time I thought there was something wrong with me, and I just want you to know that if you're feeling any of those things, you're not alone."
Kahnawake, Que
India Going After Viewers of Child Sexual Abuse Material
Two held in Hyderabad for viewing child sexual abuse videos online
The cybercrime police told the media that the duo were identified by central agencies which were specially working to identify online child abuse.
TNM Staff Follow @thenewsminute
Two people in Hyderabad were arrested on Thursday for allegedly watching child sexual abuse material (CSAM, also referred to as child pornography) by the city police’s cybercrime unit. According to reports, the accused were identified as 33-year-old Mohammed Feroz from Habsiguda in Tarnaka, and 22-year-old Prashanth Kumar from Kachiguda.
The cybercrime police told reporters that the duo was browsing through CSAM last year on various websites and were identified by central agencies which were specially working to identify online child abuse. After receiving information about this, the two people were arrested by the police and their mobile phones were seized, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Cyber Crime, KVM Prasad, told Telangana Today.
The police said that the duo’s online activity was tracked after they had searched for CSAM on various search engines last year. Apart from these two accused, the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Telangana, has also reportedly received information related to similar online activity by 13 others, from central agencies, media reports stated.
The Hyderabad cybercrime police warned people against searching, browsing or viewing any kind of CSAM as joint operations were being taken up on a global level to identify those indulging in online child sexual abuse.
In order to tackle this issue, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2019 had set up an Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) Prevention and Investigation Unit under its Special Crime Zone.
The specialised unit collects, collates and disseminates information regarding publication, transmission, creation, collection, seeking, browsing, downloading, advertising, promoting, exchanging and distribution of information related to online child sexual abuse and exploitation.
The information is later passed on to the local police in the states so that the accused can be taken into custody.
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