Online child sexual abuse is worse than the pandemic that has resulted in its horrific rise. Increasing economic vulnerability and kids out of school have contributed to a 400% increase in the sexual exploitation of children in videos in 2020
On November 14, news of a raid in 76 cities by the CBI led to 83 arrests for making “obscene videos of children” (AFP)
She was barely 14. He was six years older and promised his undying love. Then he raped her, filmed the act, and coerced her into having sex with other men. That video remained in circulation. Finally, she told a family friend and the police was informed. She is now at a childcare institution, being counselled for trauma.
India is reporting an exponential rise in online child sexual abuse. On November 14, news of a raid in 76 cities by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) led to 83 arrests for making “obscene videos of children”.
Online child sexual abuse is worse than the pandemic that has resulted in its horrific rise. Increasing economic vulnerability and kids out of school have contributed to a 400% increase in the sexual exploitation of children in videos in 2020 over the previous year, estimates the National Crime Records Bureau. In just two days after 2020’s lockdown on March 24, Pornhub saw a traffic bump of 95% — not all was child pornography but search terms like ‘sexy child’ surged and the demand for violent sexual content involving children was up by 200%, finds an April 2020 report by the India Child Protection Fund.
Even before the pandemic, technology had made it easier and cheaper than ever before in history to generate, circulate and sell online content. A decade ago when Priti Patkar of Prerana, a non-profit that works on preventing inter-generational trafficking, spoke to rescued minor girls, nobody spoke about being filmed. In the last six weeks, two of the three girls she has met say they were. “It’s become a way of generating material for online public consumption,” she said.
In 2015, news that some 90 gangrape videos were being sold online led to outrage and a Supreme Court order to deal with the perpetrators with an “iron hand”.
But the filming of criminal activity, including that involving children, continues. The en masse shift to the online world where pop-up ads push pornographic content has made its consumption equally easy. “There’s a menu of options and the offer of closed room activity, which then is secretly filmed by the service provider, generating more content,” said Rakesh Senger, executive director, Kailash Satyarthi Foundation. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, help paedophiles dodge scrutiny.
I am not advocating for a ban on the lines of the government crackdown on 857 porn sites in 2015. But equally, the proliferation of online child sexual abuse is alarming and law enforcement must scale up the technology and Artificial Intelligence tools to take down its producers and consumers.
“We have strict laws,” said Patkar. What is needed are measures including sensitisation of law enforcement and the education of children on spotting and reporting such crime. Social media platforms that host such content must report and remove it, or face legal action. The CBI raid is only a beginning. As a deterrent, there must be unambiguous legal action against those arrested.
Namita Bhandare writes on gender
The views expressed are personal