{"id":7795,"date":"2020-04-10T12:14:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T09:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uncrcpc.org.cy\/?p=7795"},"modified":"2020-05-14T16:46:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T13:46:59","slug":"hope-for-children-increased-risk-of-online-child-sexual-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/hope-for-children-increased-risk-of-online-child-sexual-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope For Children: Increased risk of online child sexual abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Hope\nFor Children” CRC Policy Center<\/strong> would like to draw the attention of parents and\nchildren to the increased risk of online child sexual abuse during the COVID-19\npandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately, as a result of the restrictive measures to\nprevent the spread of COVID-19, parents and children spend a lot of time\nstaying at home and it is natural for them to use the internet more than\nbefore, either for educational purposes or as a means of entertainment and\nsocialization. Both, the closure of schools and the confinement at home have\nundoubtedly resulted in increased use of Internet by minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center, harnessing\nits status as Observer at the Lanzarote Committee of the Council of Europe for\nthe Protection of Children against Sexual Abuse, welcomes and further promotes\nthe statement by the Lanzarote Committee Chair and Vice-Chairpersons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this statement, State Parties are invited to ensure\nthat children are informed of their right to protection against sexual violence\nand of the services and measures in place to achieve this goal. In this\ncontext, State Parties are encouraged to promote hotlines and helplines and\nmake sure that they are known to both the public and children using child\nfriendly approach for the later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awareness raising material developed by the Council of\nEurope can be reached at the following link: www.coe.int\/en\/web\/children\/covid-19<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this statement, it is stressed that: “As we fight the COVID-19 pandemic, we\nshould remember that violence against children is another pandemic that makes\nmillions of victims. Let\u2019s fight together both”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original statement can be reached at the following\nlink: https:\/\/rm.coe.int\/covid-19-lc-statement-en-final\/16809e17ae<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meanwhile, various other institutions and\norganizations (NCA, IWF, Europol, ICCSAI, NSPCC) and the Cyprus Police have\nrecently published reports claiming that the restrictive measures due to the\ncorona virus epidemic may lead to the increase of the phenomenon of online\nsexual abuse. The fact that more children use the Internet for longer periods of\ntime increases the risk of their exposure to sexual abuse behaviors. On the\nother hand, the perpetrators of such crimes have more opportunities to take\nadvantage of this increased online exposure of minors, as well as the feelings\nof loneliness and anxiety that the minors may feel because of this confinement\nat home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The online sexual abuse includes exposure to sexual\nmaterial or encouraging a minor to get involved in sexual activities, such as\nsending videos and photographs. Something, which often happens, is the sexual\nsolicitation of children for sexual purposes, the approach and invitation of a\nchild to get involved in sexual discussion and\/or action using various pretexts\nsuch as the existence of an apparent love affair, bullying, bribery or a challenge\nwhich has as an aim the acceptance of a minor into a social group or the\nacceptance of a minor by a person who is very important to the child. Such\nphenomena are not only met in the relationship between an adult and a child but\nalso very often met in the relationships between teenagers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message\nto parents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We realize that this last period of time has caused\nmany changes in your daily life. The adjustment to this new routine inevitably\nincludes the use of Internet, either for communication and social interaction\npurposes, or for entertainment. Despite all these, we must recognize the\ndangers and risks that may be hidden. It is very important to have frequent\ndiscussions with your child as to how he\/she spends time online, while at the\nsame time showing him\/her that you trust them. It is also very important for\nthe child to know that he\/she can come to talk to you about anything that\nconcerns and worries him\/her, assuring him\/her that no concern or worry is\ninsignificant and trivial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message\nto children:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You spend a lot of time at home. You need to see your\nfriends and to have fun. Internet can be a solution during this time of\nconfinement. However, even through the Internet someone can make you feel\nuncomfortable, ashamed, angry and sad, either because he\/she asked you to do\nsomething you did not want to do or because he\/she asked you strange and\npersonal questions or maybe something else. You may feel alone at home but you\nare not. Do not hesitate to talk to your parents about it and ask for their\nhelp. They know how to help you. You can also call 22103234 or text us through\nour online chat at www.uncrcpc.org.cy<\/a>, operating on a 24hour basis, where someone who is\nexpert about these issues will be able to guide you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressed to all, we realize that going through this\nperiod and because of the confinement, there may be hesitation and doubt as to\nwhether these incidents should be reported to the competent authorities. That\nis why we need to emphasize how the services that handle such cases are\navailable and in any case someone knows or suspects sexual abuse of a minor\nhe\/she must report it to the relevant authority (Cyprus Police or Social\nWelfare Services).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the professionals of Hope For\nChildren and of the public services in the Children\u2019s House continue working to\nensure that every child is protected from such exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information you can contact us on 22103234 on\na 24hour basis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center would like to draw the attention of parents and children to the increased risk of online child sexual abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lately, as a result of the restrictive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, parents and children spend a lot of time staying at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[115],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7795"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7796,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7795\/revisions\/7796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/staging.uncrcpc.org.cy.dedi3501.your-server.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}