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Children warned about online sexual exploitation
A total of 150 cases involving the sexual exploitation of children were recorded in Indonesia last year.
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The government is aware that online sexual exploitation was a huge threat to more than 40 million Indonesian children who are using the internet nowadays. (Shutterstock/File)
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gustin Aryani, a student of SMK 28 vocational school in Jakarta, seemed to be paying very close attention to what a panel of speakers said during an event called “Internet Safety for Children”. She sometimes jotted down a note in a small memo pad placed on her lap while learning about “online grooming”, “sexting”, “sextortion” and many other concepts.
Later, after attending the 30-minute discussion session led by Ahmad Sofian, the coordinator of Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) Indonesia, the 17-year-old Agustin told The Jakarta Post that she learned a lot about online sexual exploitation from the session.
“I’d be more cautious when it comes to using the internet in the future as to avoid the potential danger of online sexual exploitation,” said the girl, who had been using the internet since she was 12, yet without getting sufficient knowledge of the dangers of internet predators from her parents and teachers.
Agustin was among hundreds of secondary school students from across the capital who attended the event held by the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry in collaboration with ECPAT and parental control app Kakatu on Thursday.
The ministry was aware that online sexual exploitation was a huge threat to more than 40 million Indonesian children who are using the internet nowadays.
Interpol reportedly identified 25,000 activities relating child pornography online taking place every single day, the ministry said in a statement, adding that ECPAT recorded 150 cases involving the sexual exploitation of children in Indonesia last year.
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), meanwhile, revealed previously that at least 116 children had fallen victim to online sexual crime last year, while 134 children became the victims of child pornography in the same period.
