Positive Stories in the War on Child Sexual Abuse > Visa, MC, Cut-off PornHub; Anti-trafficking in Ontario; Red Flags for Exploitation; Reducing Risk of CSA

MasterCard, Visa end card use on Pornhub amid controversy

Website owned by Montreal-based Mindgeek is among world's most popular pornography sites

The Canadian Press · 

Posted: Dec 10, 2020 3:22 PM ET 

Credit card companies MasterCard and Visa say they will no longer allow the cards to be used on Pornhub, a website owned by the Montreal-based company Mindgeek.

Pornhub came under fire last week after the New York Times reported that the website hosts videos of child sexual assaults and exploitations, prompting financial services companies Visa and MasterCard to investigate their relationship with the site.

MasterCard says its investigation found illegal material on the site, and had instructed its financial partners to stop accepting payments to Pornhub.

Visa says its investigation is ongoing, but it is suspending Pornhub's acceptance privileges pending its completion.

Pornhub denies there is illegal content on its site, saying it employs moderators to screen every video upload. Pornhub and Mindgeek did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

There are about 80 worldwide who work on Mindgeek sites (by comparison, Facebook told me it has 15,000 moderators). With 1.36 million new hours of video uploaded a year to Pornhub, that means that each moderator would have to review hundreds of hours of content each week. - Nicholas Kristof, NYT

Mindgeek is a conglomerate that owns more than 100 websites, production companies and brands. Pornhub itself is one of the most highly frequented pornography sites, with more than 100 million daily visits and more than 36 billion visits per year, according to the company.

It will be interesting to see if this move affects PornHub as much as Visa and MC? I suspect this will be a temporary move at best, but it's a move.

New Indigenous programs to prevent human trafficking

to open 10 facilities in Ontario

Ontario announced a $46 million investment to expand

the anti-human trafficking program into 10 areas

Bobby Hristova · CBC News · 

Posted: Dec 10, 2020 3:17 PM ET 

The Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA) will expand its program to support Indigenous women, youth and girls affected by human trafficking, into Fort Erie, Hamilton and other Ontario cities and towns. (Shutterstock)

Fort Erie will be the first place where the Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA) will expand its program to support Indigenous women, youth and girls affected by human trafficking.

It follows a $46 million provincial investment announced on Thursday dedicated toward anti-human trafficking community supports and Indigenous-led initiatives funds.

ONWA says Fort Erie was chosen to be the first location for expansion because it is a "priority area" with a current lack of programming, high tourism and proximity to the US border.

Wendy Sturgeon, executive director of the Niagara Chapter- Native Women Inc. (part of ONWA) said in an interview on Thursday there are few details on when and how the program will run, but that it is exciting news.

"We anticipate the program will be built around those youth aging out of child welfare and the vulnerabilities that some of the families involved in child welfare face. So, it's partly around strengthening families and ensuring some of those preventative pieces are put in place so people are not becoming vulnerable," she said.

Paul Koscinski, staff sergeant from the NRPS special victims unit, said the program will be a huge help in preventing human trafficking.

"It's one of those crimes that is underreported and clandestine and we have a difficult time investigating it because of that … it takes quite a bit of effort on the part of responders and investigators to support victims to enable them to deal with that trauma and get proper supports."

Sturgeon said NRPS has been working closely with her group throughout the process.

Hamilton and other cities to get program

Nine other areas in Ontario, including Hamilton, will also be included in the expansion of ONWA's Aakode'ewin - Courage for Change program.

The program was already running in Thunder Bay and recently expanded into Toronto. It focuses on exploited youth and getting them services and tools to escape human trafficking.

"Because we're expanding into 10 communities, this is our opportunity to create a pathway to safe spaces. It takes a community to create change," Dawn Lavell-Harvard, ONWA board president, said in a media release.

Sturgeon said 89 people have been helped so far.

Ontario announces $307M investment to take on human trafficking

Koscinski said women are the main targets of trafficking, but the populations most affected include most equity-seeking groups including:

Indigenous women and girls.

Migrants and immigrants.

At-risk youth and children in the welfare system.

LGBTQ people.

Provincial officials hope the $46 million investment can help communities overcome human trafficking. "Indigenous women and children make up a disproportionate number of those exploited through human trafficking in Ontario," Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs, said in a media release. 

"We are taking serious action to put an end to human trafficking in Ontario and ensuring victims have access to culturally appropriate supports and services as a part of our plan to combat this abhorrent crime."

The Ontario government acknowledges that, based on statistics, the province is "a hub for human trafficking." "Human trafficking is a serious crime that is victimizing a growing number of vulnerable Ontarians," said solicitor general Sylvia Jones in the release.

"This investment helps ensure victims and survivors have the support they need while we work to end this heinous activity in our communities."

Watchdog lays out checklist of financial red flags for possible

child sex exploitation

..

Initiative has already led to up to 30 red flags about possible incidents

Jim Bronskill · The Canadian Press · 

Posted: Dec 10, 2020 10:44 AM ET

Canada's anti-money laundering agency is flagging some telltale signs that a financial transaction could be linked to online child sexual exploitation.

The federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac, says in an operational alert issued on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to an increase in the consumption and production of digital material related to sexual abuse of children.

The new alert and a list of indicators of illicit transactions tied to exploitation were developed from an analysis of Fintrac's financial intelligence in consultation with Scotiabank, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the RCMP.

The effort, known as Project Shadow to underscore the activity's hidden nature, is modelled after earlier public-private sector partnerships aimed at human trafficking in the sex trade, the sale of fentanyl, romance fraud and casino-related transactions through underground banking.

Fintrac tries to zero in on cash linked to terrorism and money laundering by sifting through millions of pieces of information annually from banks, insurance companies, securities dealers, money service businesses, real estate brokers, casinos and others.

30 tips so far

The anti-money laundering agency says information received since the creation of Project Shadow has already allowed it to make more than 30 disclosures of financial intelligence linked to child sexual exploitation for police and other partners to investigate.

The idea is to provide law enforcement "with essentially another tool in their toolbox to combat child sexual abuse material on the internet," said Barry MacKillop, Fintrac's deputy director for intelligence.

The need for more financial intelligence amounted to a gap in efforts to identify and prioritize suspects involved in such exploitation, said Chief Supt. Marie-Claude Arsenault of the RCMP's sensitive and specialized investigative services.

Signy Arnason, associate executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said the new project would help in the ongoing battle to "expose the underbelly" of the disturbing proliferation of images of young people in cyberspace.

Fintrac's alert says indicators of money laundering can be thought of as red flags signalling "that something may very well be wrong."

Based on Fintrac's data-crunching, the top 10 jurisdictions receiving money transfers linked to online child sexual exploitation were the Philippines, Thailand, Colombia, the United States, Ghana, Ukraine, Dominican Republic, Romania, Jamaica and Russia, with most funds sent through money service businesses.

Perpetrators and suspects were nearly all males, mostly in their 40s and 50s, located across Canada and employed in a wide range of occupations.

It's hard to know, based on a single payment, if someone is creating sexually explicit material involving children, said Stuart Davis, executive vice-president and global head for financial crimes risk management at Scotiabank.

However, seeing that payment alongside other pieces of relevant information can reveal a bigger picture pointing to a crime, he said. "And it takes the context of lots of information to really be able to draw some indications of potential suspicion."

Indicators of a transaction involving online exploitation could also include:

A male who frequently transfers low-value funds to the same female or multiple females in countries of concern over a short time, with no apparent family connection or other reason to do so.

Travel-related expenses, such as a passport purchase or flight booking, closely before or after transfers to a jurisdiction of concern for child sexual exploitation.

Purchases at vendors that offer online encryption tools, virtual private network services, software to clear online tracking, or other tools or services for online privacy and anonymity.

Purchases on webcam or livestreaming platforms, including those for adult entertainment.

Payments to a self-storage facility.

Transactions to reload prepaid credit cards, particularly ones that deal with virtual currencies.

=====================================================================================

New report sets out principles to reduce child sexual assault risk in

youth group settings

by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

A new report from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers offers recommendations for youth organizations to bolster policies and practices aimed at preventing child sexual abuse.

To inform their guidance, the authors examined current strategies used by youth organizations and recommended potential improvements built around eight principles. Funded by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, Preventing Child Sexual Abuse In The Context Of National Youth-Serving Organizations, was released today at the third annual Bloomberg American Health Summit, a convening of national innovators and experts to discuss ways to transform the nation's public health system.

"We hope leaders of youth-serving organizations will find this report helpful when they consider how to protect children," says the report's lead author, Elizabeth Letourneau, Ph.D., professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, also at the Bloomberg School. "In particular, our report is designed to provide a guiding framework to help unify organizations' efforts to keep children as safe as possible."

Letourneau, who has spent three decades developing and evaluating effective ways to prevent child sexual abuse, emphasizes that youth organizations do an enormous amount of good for the children they serve, and many have well-crafted, thoughtfully implemented policies for the protection of millions of American children.

Yet overall, as many as one in four girls, and one in 10 boys, will experience some form of child sexual abuse during their childhood. Research indicates only one in three of child sexual assault incidents are reported to a parent or other adult, and only one in five are reported to police. This abuse often has long-term consequences, including serious emotional trauma.

In their report, the researchers recommend eight core principles that could help youth organizations protect children from sexual abuse. Among them are:

Focus on children's well-being and safety, above all else.

Increase monitoring of adult-child interactions. One strategy is to make adult-child interactions more visible by keeping meeting room doors ajar or placing windows in interior doors and walls. 

For one-on-one mentoring programs, this could mean regular contact between program staff and parents, youth, and mentors.

Collaborate with children and parents, and involve them in key decisions.

In developing child sexual abuse policies and practices, many organizations focus on numerous specific and unsystematic rules, rather than overall principles. "This approach can be ineffective," Letourneau says. For instance, some organizations have a policy requiring two or more adults whenever children are present. In practice, this is often unworkable; many organizations are built around mentoring, which requires one-on-one contact. Instead of focusing on numbers, the authors recommend emphasizing the broad principle of improved monitoring, which can be achieved through a range of strategies.

In the U.S., there has been much less focus on preventing child sexual abuse and more attention on punishing those convicted of a crime. "This is understandable," says Letourneau. "But the emphasis on incarceration does little to prevent abuse: People with prior sex crimes convictions commit only about five percent of sex crimes, which means we are leaving 95 percent of the problem unaddressed."

She emphasizes that prevention efforts need support from federal and state governments. Every year, the U.S. spends about $6 billion to imprison all sex offenders. In contrast, in FY2020 the federal government earmarked $1 million for child sexual abuse prevention research. "Of course, adults who commit sex crimes against children should be held accountable," says Letourneau. "But prevention remains the goal."

Apparently, not for the government. Certainly not for the Canadian gov't. No money, that I am aware of goes to child sex abuse prevention research.

=====================================================================================

Child Sex Abuse - Misconceptions, Red Flags, Protecting Your Child

Parents, please read this article,

it may save your children from a horrible fate

This may help you to identify child predators

ITHACA, N.Y. (The Ithaca Voice) -- A Tompkins County sex abuse expert half-jokingly said she wishes she could make a change to the sex offender registry online. Next to a convicted offender's sullen mugshot, she wishes she could post a photo of the person opening a Christmas present.

That, she said, is what a sex offender looks like: anybody's friend, family member or co-worker.

In child or teen sex abuse cases, 85 to 90 percent of incidents involve an offender who is known and often trusted by adults and family members, said Heather Campbell, executive director at The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County,

That trust, she said, is often not haphazardly misplaced. It's earned after a person pours energy and time -- sometimes years -- into gaining people's trust through a process called grooming.

“I think it helps (to) address some of the denial that people have about identifying child sexual abuse and also understanding the dynamics about how it is that there can be sex offenders living in our community who may offend again and again and again,” she said.


How a sex offender grooms a child and parents

"When we talk about the pattern of grooming we’re talking about the pattern where an adult accommodates (habituates) the child to the abusive behaviors and normalizes it,” she said.

The behavior, though, doesn't often start explicit. It happens slowly, sneakily and is always dependent on ensuring a child can keep a "secret."

"It may start with the hand on the shoulder…that just accommodates the child of being close to them. And then maybe they start telling some off color jokes,” she said. "Sometimes they even do these things in front of other adults.”

That shows the child that the comments and the touching are okay. If it wasn't, surely an adult would have intervened.

Then offenders find a way to increase physical contact somehow.

Campbell told an anecdote about a game an offender played with a child. The two spelled words on each other's back and the person facing away had to guess the word. Then the game transitioned into spelling words on each other's chest. Then the offender suggested that the child lift his or her shirt to be able to guess words better. Over a period of time, that game progressed to the abuse.

"At that point the child or teen can feel almost complicit,” Campbell said. “And so offenders can really manipulate kids into feeling like they’re a part of this – that they didn’t speak up -- and can really manipulate that."

Another way offenders trap kids into feeling complicit has been developing at a more common rate over the past 10 years or so. The adult shows a child pornography.

"What offenders are also doing is they’re taking advantage of kids’ developmentally expected curiosity about sexuality. You know kids -- teens, tween in particular -- they're really curious about this thing we call adult sexuality,” she said.

So where are the child or teen's parents while this is going on? Probably leaving their kid with the adult, who they have come to trust and know well over a period of time.


This isn't a "bad parenting" issue

“I think it’s also really important to note...that sex offenders don’t just groom kids they groom adults. ..they're often really working to make themselves seem really trustworthy, really safe.”

The offender could offer to pick a child up from soccer practice while a parent is stuck at work. They can offer to babysit to give mom and dad a date night. They can take a special interest as a coach to a child's ability or training.

None of those are red flag in and of themselves. But the same way a well meaning friend would offer to do those things to help out or be kind, is the same way a sex offender would offer a hand.

And often times, the offense can be even worse.

An offender can be somebody a family has known for years -- a childhood friend, somebody a parent went to college with, a longtime colleague. A helping hand from those people would never arouse suspicion.

"I've talked with parents who have called our hotline who are anguished,” Campbell said. Because not only did an offender take advantage of a child, they also took advantage of an adult who is supposed to protect a child.

And there is no fool-proof checklist for how to separate well-intentioned friends and family members from sexual predators.


Identifying the questionable behavior

Campbell and others at the Advocacy Center go into the community and give prevention talks throughout the year. They go to churches, schools and even to people's living room. Again and again, they hear the same kind of comment.

"I hear what you're saying and I believe you. I believe your statistics….but I emotionally cannot look around the people in my life and think that it may be one of them. It’s just too hard,” Campbell recalls regularly hearing.

There's the rub. Campbell said the center doesn't want people to be afraid to trust others or hesitate in making meaningful relationships. That's no way to live. But there are tips people can be mindful of day-to-day.

None of the tips are 100 percent indicators that person could be a sex offender, but they are points to consider.

A person with no adult friends, but who makes plenty of time to spend with children or teens

An adult who consistently arranges to be alone with children

Ignoring requests by a child or adult to stop physical interactions, such as hugs or kisses

Persistent offers to babysit

Acting angry or annoyed if alone time with children is interrupted

People who consistently seek out work or volunteer opportunities to be alone with children

A person who always has a young "special friend" who is often around

Somebody who frequently doesn't respect requests for privacy, such as changing in a separate room than children and barging in on children in the bathroom

A person who talks about sex or makes sexually explicit references in front of children, especially after being asked to stop.

Campbell said,"Trust your gut. If you're getting that feeling as an adult…it could be good to ask yourself some questions and ask ‘What about this behavior is uncomfortable?'"

Campbell stressed that a parent doesn't have to be paranoid or accusatory. A simple, "Don't tell those kinds of jokes in front of the kids," goes a long way. It lets even well intentioned people know what's appropriate and lets predators know you're being observant and careful, and protective.

But the most important thing parents can do to help prevent child sex abuse is to be proactive about discussing the issue.


Don't have "The Talk." Just talk.

That awkward birds and the bees talk that parents everywhere dread having to have with their kids? Erase that misconception. Because there should be a lot more than "the talk" happening. Sexuality, consent and wellness should be ongoing, age-appropriate conversations that happen from childhood through adulthood.

“In the same way we teach kids about how to cross the street safely, we need to teach them how to be with other people in the world safely," Campbell said.

For instance, she said that her young son holds her hand when they cross the street together.Some day, they'll cross the street together without holding hand. Then she'll cross fist and wave him over. And at some point, he'll be able to cross the street safely alone.

“But I don’t sit him down one day and say, 'There are trucks and they could squish you.' It wouldn't be helpful. It wouldn’t be accurate. And it wouldn’t be equipping him with developmentally appropriate information," she said.

The same should go for these talks about sexuality talks with children.

For instance, Campbell said a child can learn about good touches, bad touches and uncomfortable touches. They can learn to practice 'no means no' during everyday occasions, such as tickling or cuddling. And they can learn that even from a young age, they have a certain amount of autonomy -- that they don't have to give their great-aunt they've never met a hug and a kiss if it makes them feel uncomfortable.

As children get older, those conversations turn into discussions about consent for everything from hand holding to having sex with a partner who clearly confirms consent.

"It really is just finding those teachable moments,” Campbell said.