Sexual deviants beware! – Public can now report child sexual abuse via portal
The public can now report any website that carries material that has child sexual abuse – ‘pornography’ through a portal that was launched this week in Windhoek. The portal will be hosted on the website of the local organisation Life Line / Child Line.
According to Internet Watch Foundation Press and Public Affairs manager Kristoff Claesen, with the click of a button, one will be able to report by sharing the respective web link with the abusive content.
The National Reporting Portal for online child sexual abuse material is set to sensitise the general public to an anonymously report child sexual abuse material and ensure the material is taken down from online platforms.
“The emergence of online child sexual abuse images and videos, also called “child pornography”, is a scourge of our time and a reality in any country. Namibia is not immune to online child sexual abuse material,” said UNICEF representative, Marcus Betts at the launch.
As a result, in particular the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Ministry of Safety and Security, Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare and Office of the Prosecutor General, have taken action and, with the support from UNICEF and the UK based, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) joined the global fight against online child sexual abuse with the launch of the online portal.
The national reporting portal launch in Namibia acknowledges the important role the general public plays in combating online child sexual abuse and exploitation.
“It is easy to use. Through five steps, the public can report what they may deem as potential child sexual abuse and our trained analysts based in the UK will analyse and if it is a treat will take it down as well as notify the law enforcement officials in that country,” Claesen added.
Meanwhile in a research study of ICT use and online protection risks by children (age 13 – 17 years) that was conducted in Namibia in 2016 with the support of UNICEF, 29% of respondents had seen child sexual abuse material online.
