Child Sexual Abuse > Online CSA is exploding across Ireland

 

Almost 560 cases of online child abuse reported weekly,

new report finds

Ian Begley, Extra.ie

05/10/2024

Almost 560 cases of child sex abuse material were reported in Ireland every week last year, a new report has found.

The national reporting centre, Hotline.ie, received more than 29,000 confirmed reports of child sex abuse material last year, more than double the number in 2022 and a ten-fold rise since 2020.

In addition, illegal self-generated material, created by children on their phones or webcams, has soared by 280%.

Included in Hotline’s annual report, there were 470 reports of intimate image abuse, which includes non-consensual sharing of intimate images, commonly referred to as ‘revenge porn’.

Out of the 29,906 URL addresses found to contain illegal content, only 362 remained active by the end of last year, resulting in a 99% removal rate.

Mick Moran, CEO of Hotline, said: ‘If you give the child 24-hour unfettered high broadband access to the internet, you’re giving the internet 24-hour high broadband access to your child.’

He added that children are often exploited or coerced into making illegal material, while others exchange images and videos by choice.

‘All of these things feed into this increase, but more important is the fact that we’re seeing these images being produced by kids themselves.’

‘Is there a linkage to the fact that these pre-teen children- so children under 12, mostly under ten – have devices?’

Mr Moran said that parents should engage with their children and use resources such as Web Wise, the ISPCC website or Cyber Safe Kids for direction. The Children’s Rights Alliance said the increase is ‘deeply troubling to hear’.

The national reporting centre, Hotline.ie, received more than 29,000 confirmed reports of child sex abuse material last year, more than double the number in 2022 and a ten-fold rise since 2020. Pic: Getty Images

‘It is entirely unacceptable in our society that so many reports of this illegal and abusive material were found,’ Noeline Blackwell, the group’s online safety co-ordinator, said.

Global safety institute Childlight has also called for a new approach to better protect children.

Its CEO Paul Stanfield stated: ‘We estimate that the lives of one in eight children are blighted by this public health emergency.’

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