France – With the increase in child sexual exploitation and abuse cases, specialists from various parts of the world gathered to obtain a collaborative response on this issue. From March 14 to March 17, 2022, the INTERPOL Specialists Group on Crimes against crime organized a gathering in which various countries actively participated to develop technical solutions against online sexual abuse, identify attackers and victims and disrupt criminal activity networks active in spreading abusive content.
98 participants from 54 countries, including international and regional organizations, NGOs, and the private sector, came together in this meeting. These people shared their views on the best practices which should be implemented across various sectors and countries. Such suggestions are essential to keep up with the modus operandi of criminals. These people with a criminal mindset try to exploit children by taking advantage of the online medium and through various platforms and applications.
While starting the conversation, INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services Stephen Kavanagh emphasized the importance of global unity in overcoming such crimes against children.
“Practitioners dealing with such cases face multiple challenges while investigating. They develop special tools and materials to get help in their probe. Fighting against online child sexual abuse is INTERPOL’s major task, and we are taking necessary actions to strengthen our efforts for Crime Against Children unit. Our sustainability and activities always strive to deliver strong global results which can address these challenges.”
Mr. Kavanagh has sensed the need to elevate national police abilities, to focus on technical expertise to make more efficient investigations against child abuse crime.
“This meeting has also provided an opportunity for various service providers, partners, and vendors to know the proper law enforcement and understand the current threat to update the tools and safety measures. Such aspects will help them to fight against child abuse whenever they find it,” added Mr. Kavanagh.
Emphasizing the complexity and scaling up the efforts against online child abuse Ilana de Wild, Director of Organized and Emerging Crime, requested various countries members to form specialized units to take maximum advantage of INTERPOL’s resources like International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database.
“We are all trying to find out the abuse victims, which are more than 27,000 with more than 12,000 offenders globally that have been documented with the ICSE database. This work is critically important, concluded.
Now Let’s Know About Signs of Child Sexual Abuse
Children who survive sexual abuse experience severe trauma for several years after the abuse happens. There are some common signs in which a child with sexual abuse is suspected. These signs vary from child to adult and can be blatant but not always physically apparent. You must know the signs to understand when the victim needs help, whether the incident happened in the past or in recent times. Such abuse is traumatic for children and can leave mental, emotional, and physical scars.
In Los Angeles, once the survivor is ready to speak about the abuse that happened to them, their caretakers can go legally against such crimes by taking the help of a professional child sexual abuse lawyer. Victims may get compensation for the tragedy they suffered. Although no money can replace the trauma, some justice can be served through such decisions.
The typical sign of sexual abuse in younger children includes saying new words for body parts, doing sexual behaviors with toys, wetting or soiling accidents, etc. In adolescents, signs include self-harm, depression and anxiety, alcohol abuse, fear of intimacy, etc.
Signs of Adults Perpetrator of Child Abuse
It is sometimes possible to predict the behavior of the adult perpetrator. Some have good relations with children’s parents, and some do jobs where they work with children. While trying to become friendly with the children, these people push the boundaries. Other signs include staring at children for a longer duration, giving gifts, and becoming over-friendly while playing.
While the above signs represent few characteristics, identifying such a criminal mind sometimes becomes virtually impossible.