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UNICEF campaigns to end online crimes against children
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The Storytellers' Movement for Humanity (GEPPUK) group performs during an event to raise awareness of violence against children, at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Sunday. (Antara/Saptono)
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NICEF launched on Tuesday an initiative called #ReplyforAll as part of a global campaign to end violence against children, following a recent study that revealed young people often become victims of sex cybercrimes.
The #ReplyforAll initiative makes young people messengers and advocates to keep one another safe online. In the campaign, UNICEF asks children and adolescents to give advice on the best ways to respond to online violence or risks and to raise awareness among friends through social media.
The campaign is also supported by the WePROTECT Global Alliance that is dedicated to ending the sexual exploitation of children online through national and global action.
Through the initiative, UNICEF and the WePROTECT Global Alliance are also calling for governments to set up coordinated responses between criminal justice systems, including the law enforcement, child welfare, education, health and ICT sectors, as well as civil society, to better protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation.
“When young people, governments, families, the ICT sector and communities work together, we are more likely to find the best ways to respond to online sexual abuse and exploitation, and send a strong message that confronting and ending violence against children online, indeed anywhere, is all of our business,” UNICEF’s associate director of child protection, Cornelius Williams, said in a press statement on Tuesday.
UNICEF conducted a global poll titled "Perils and Possibilities: Growing Up Online" from April 6 to 20 of more than 10,000 18-year-olds from 25 countries to look at the risks and realities of a connected generation.
The poll showed that 80 percent of those surveyed believe young people are in danger of being sexually abused or taken advantage of online. Moreover, 57 percent of respondents thought their friends participated in risky behavior while using the internet.
The growing use of the internet and mobile phones has revolutionized young people’s access to information. Yet, the poll results showed just how real the risk of online abuse is for both girls and boys, Williams said.
Nearly 90 percent of respondents believed they could avoid online dangers, the study said. It was also found girls were more likely than boys to talk to their parents, caregivers, or friends if someone were made them feel unsafe online.
When online threats occur, more young people turn to friends rather than parents or teachers, but less than half of respondents strongly agreed that they knew how to help a friend facing online risks.
The findings also provided important insights from young people as globally one in three internet users is a child.
"UNICEF aims to amplify the adolescents' voices to help address online violence, exploitation and abuse and make sure that children can take full advantage of the benefits the internet and mobile phones offer," Williams said.
As for Indonesia, 69 percent of 18-year-olds surveyed agreed that children and adolescents were in danger of being sexually abused or taken advantage of online.
The survey also found 80 percent of children suspected their own friends of participating in related risky behaviors online, thus becoming sources of danger, such as bullying, themselves. (rin)
