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Viewers of online abuse at high risk of contacting children directly,
study finds
Darknet survey finds 42% sought contact after watching sexual abuse online,
with escalating porn habits driving users to illegal material
Photograph: Sandy Gasperoni/Alamy
Harriet Grant
Tue 1 Mar 2022 06.30 GMT
The largest ever survey on the thoughts and behaviours of people who watch child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online has found significant evidence that those who watch illegal material are at high risk of going on to contact or abuse a child directly.
Nearly half (42%) of respondents to the survey, the first of its kind, said they had sought direct contact with children through online platforms after viewing CSAM, and 58% reported feeling afraid that viewing CSAM might lead to them committing abuse in person.
The report, published in the Stanford Internet Observatory’s Journal of Online Trust and Safety, is the result of months of groundbreaking research by Finnish human rights group Protect Children.
Researchers placed surveys on the darknet, tagged with code words used by people searching for child sexual abuse material. About 15,000 people responded and researchers carried out detailed studies on 1,500 who replied in full to the survey.
Tegan Insoll, specialist researcher at Protect Children, told the Guardian: “This is really significant. We now have a peer-reviewed study to prove that watching [CSAM] can increase the risk of contact.”
The study comes as rising numbers of men are being arrested in the UK and elsewhere for watching child abuse online. “Many offenders claim that watching does not extend to harming children [directly] but we show it can increase the risk of contact and there are other factors linked to dangerous behaviour,” Insoll added. “The darker the material – for example the younger the victims – the more likely a viewer is to go on to contact a child. The same can be seen with frequency of watching this material and the age at which they were first exposed to it.”
This is confirmation of the phrase I use very frequently on this blog, "Sin is progressive!" The material gets darker and darker, the children get younger and younger, and the violence gets more real and more horrifying.
The research has already shown that a large percentage of respondents first saw child abuse material online before they were 18.
“This is a massive human rights issue. Children have a right to wellbeing and health – protected from sexual violence. We are working with people around the world to use our work to show the vital importance of removing child sexual abuse material from the internet.”
If you actually removed all pornography from the internet many people would not progress from porn to kiddie porn. But in this godless world, that's not going to happen.
The UK’s only helpline for people who want to stop looking at illegal child abuse material online has reported a “monumental’’ increase in people calling.
The Stop it Now! helpline supports people who are worried about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts or behaviours towards children. New data published on Tuesday reports that 165,000 people have contacted them online or by phone during 2021, double that of the previous year.
And those are just the ones that have the courage and decency to seek help.
Experts at the charity say that increased isolation and job losses during the pandemic over the past two years have contributed to the rise, as have escalating porn habits. More than 2,000 people visited the Stop it Now! “get help” website after receiving a warning about their behaviour on porn sites while searching for material featuring under-18s.
“Many of those who contact us started out on mainstream porn sites
and feel they need more extreme content.
Donald Findlater, director of the Stop It Now! helpline said: “Many of those who contact us started out on mainstream porn sites and feel they need more extreme content. A few are struggling with a longstanding sexual interest in children and think that looking at ‘only pictures’ is a way of managing that interest. Everyone needs to know [this] is illegal and children are harmed by it.”
In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International.
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Child sex abuse in Madagascar ‘widespread and tolerated’
17 February 2022
Human Rights
In Madagascar, child sex abuse is “widespread and tolerated” in tourist hotspots, UN-appointed rights experts said on Thursday.
In a call to the authorities to take action to protect youngsters from child prostitution and other violations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child heard that the majority of children who had sex for money, do so to survive.
This, of course, is not restricted to Madagascar, or even Africa. In Brazil between a quarter and a half million children are working the streets to feed themselves and/or their families. This is poverty! And we advanced countries are too busy making weapons of war and using them to create even more poverty, than to spend any time or money investing in countries that really need help. But then, the corruption in many of those countries makes it very difficult to help them.
Boost prevention
To combat this, the Geneva-based panel urged Madagascar’s government to strengthen multilateral, regional and bilateral accords, to prevent sex tourism.
Its recommendations followed a scheduled rights review of the Indian Ocean island nation, which in 2004 committed to eradicating all forms of violence against children – including sexual abuse and exploitation.
Vulnerabilities
During exchanges with the Malagasy authorities and civil society in Geneva, the UN panel noted the extreme vulnerability of communities affected by recurring drought and chronic shortages of water and food, particularly in southern areas.
Linked to this, rates of acute malnutrition among children have worsened “exponentially” in Madagascar, said the UN-appointed independent panel, which oversees how Member States implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Prostitution ‘trivialized’
In its submission to the panel, the civil society group ECPAT International, explained that child prostitution “has become trivialized in Madagascar and is conducted openly in bars, nightclubs, massage salons and hotel establishments”.
ECPAT International added that poverty was the main driver of the practice and that some families even pushed their children into vice, the majority being girls, although the prostitution of boys has increased in recent years.
It said that while more than 250,000 tourists visited Madagascar according to latest data from 2017, the majority of abusers were citizens of the island nation, with most affected areas being the capital and coastal towns.
Madagascar has been struck by two deadly cyclones in recent weeks, causing widespread loss of life and damage to parts of the country. UN and humanitarian partners have been providing support and aid to those affected, and extreme weather events have led to widespread hunger across the country.
Committee’s mandate
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a body of 18 Independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties.
It also monitors implementation of two Optional Protocols to the Convention, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
‘Dirty Dozen List’ names 12 companies profiting
off sexual exploitation
By Michael Gryboski,
Mainline Church Editor Twitter|
Wednesday, March 09, 2022
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has released its annual Dirty Dozen list that documents how 12 entities are profiting off sexually exploitative practices.
Released Tuesday, the list includes companies that NCOSE believes are “fueling sexual exploitation through their business practices, policies and products,” according to Lina Nealon, the director of corporate and strategic initiatives.
The list does not include businesses and other enterprises that are making improvements but are still being monitored by NCOSE.
“Children and marginalized people, in particular, are being harmed at record numbers due to increased vulnerabilities created by the pandemic — yet corporations continue watching profits skyrocket without prioritizing user protection and well-being,” Nealon said in a statement released last month.
“We cannot allow this reality to go unchallenged, and our annual Dirty Dozen List advocates for crucial changes toward corporate social responsibility,” she added.
Here are the 12 entities listed on the 2022 Dirty Dozen List. They include a domain name company, a popular social media site, the dominant internet search engine, and a prominent Christian sports camp.
Please go to Christian Post for the complete list.
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Over Half of UK Anglicans Believe Same-Sex Marriage Is 'Right'
YouGov Survey
Milton Quintanilla |
Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com |
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
According to a new YouGov online survey, over half of Anglicans believe that same-sex marriage is "right" despite the church's opposition to the practice.
The survey, which was conducted between February 22 and 27 of this year, found that 55 percent of self-identified Anglicans support same-sex marriage, an increase in Anglican support from previous years. In 2013, only 38 percent of Anglicans said same-sex marriage was 'right.' Just two years later, in 2015, support increased to 45 percent. Support continued to rise, and by 2020, 48 percent said they supported same-sex marriage.
Conversely, the recent findings show that just 29 percent of Anglicans said same-sex marriage is "wrong," a significant decrease from 2013, when 47 percent said it was wrong. According to The Christian Post, between 15 and 19 percent of Anglicans said they "don't know" if same-sex marriage is right or wrong, a percentage that has remained unchanged since 2003.
The survey also found that Anglican females (62 percent) were more likely to back same-sex marriage than Anglican men (44 percent). Regarding Anglicans by age, an overwhelming 73 percent of Anglicans between the ages 25-49 say that same-sex marriage is "right," followed by 64 percent of 18–24-year-olds, 57 percent of 50-64-year-olds and 64 percent of Anglicans over 65.
The Ozanne Foundation, the LGBTQ advocacy organization that commissioned the survey, expressed joy over the increased Anglican support for same-sex marriage.
"These results show that an overwhelming majority of those who identify as Anglican in England believe that same-sex marriage is right, underlining the urgent need for the Church of England hierarchy to bring forward proposals to accept and celebrate same-sex relationships," Jayne Ozanne, an LGBT church campaigner and former member of the Church of England's Archbishop's Council, said in a statement.
"We have waited long enough – indeed, it is over five years since we were promised a 'new radical Christian inclusion' by Archbishop Justin [Welby]," she added.
According to The Christian Post, as the denomination struggled to agree on same-sex marriage in 2015, Welby addressed the issue.
"To deal with that disagreement, to find ways forward, we need a radical new Christian inclusion in the Church," he said at the time. "This must be founded in scripture, in reason, in tradition, in theology; it must be based on good, healthy, flourishing relationships, and in a proper 21st century understanding of being human and of being sexual."
Meanwhile, critics such as university lecturer Sam Margrave asked why the Church must be influenced by public opinion to change its position on particular issues instead of the Bible.
"What is the Biblical basis for such a change?" Margrave tweeted. "The majority of the public also support abortion, sex before marriage and capital punishment. Do you also want to see the Church change its policies on those issues based on public opinion?"
Is the Anglican Church turning into a social club? Where is the fear of God?
About 1,165 self-identified Anglicans participated in the YouGov survey. Overall, 5,120 adults in the United Kingdom participated in the survey.
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