Child sex abuse 'should be treated like a pandemic'

An international conference on child sexual abuse will be heard in Edinburgh next week

Campaigners are calling for governments around the world to treat child sex abuse as a global health emergency like Covid.

A new UK-based institute, Childlight, says voluntary action by the tech sector has failed to halt an increase in the abuse of children worldwide.

It argues the issue should be dealt with in the same way as a pandemic.

It says there should be global co-operation between governments, law enforcement and the tech sector.

Childlight is based in Edinburgh, where an international conference on child sexual abuse will be attended by 750 delegates from 70 countries next week.

The institute plans to gather data from around the world to build an unprecedented picture of the extent and nature of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

• Child sex exploitation 'in every part of Scotland'

• Over £4m paid out to child abuse survivors

• Online child abuse 'not given police priority'

Its chief executive Paul Stanfield is a former senior police officer who worked with the National Crime Agency and Interpol during a 30-year-career.

"This is growing year on year and it's clear that the measures that are in place simply aren't working," he said.

"It's a global pandemic, a global health emergency and we need to look at it the way we considered Aids in the 1980s, and in the same way we treated Covid."

Mr Stanfield hopes Childlight's data will pressurise governments into taking action.

"There were a number of voluntary principles brought in in 2020 which a lot of the tech companies signed up to, about looking to remove harmful material online," he said.

"That's clearly not worked because we've seen a massive increase. Regulation is the only way that's going to result in change.

"Tech companies need to prevent their platforms being used to facilitate child sexual abuse. They must have the technology to do this."

'Chasing after an avalanche'

Childlight will take part in the three-day conference that is being held in Edinburgh by the US-based International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Its chief executive Pragathi Tummala said: "We are chasing after an avalanche with enormous personal and societal costs."

In Scotland alone, there was a 511% increase in reports of online offending targeting children between 2015 and 2021.

Between March 2022 and April this year, Police Scotland carried out 700 investigations, arrested 500 people, almost all of them men, and safeguarded 800 children.

The force has teamed up with the charity Stop It Now! Scotland to launch a new campaign targeting perpetrators who groom and abuse children online.

The #GetHelpOrGetCaught campaign hopes to persuade them to seek confidential support from the organisation.

Stop It Now! Scotland's director Stuart Allardyce said: "We know that the majority of individuals who receive the right support do not reoffend."

Det Supt Martin MacLean of Police Scotland said: "The consequences of this can't be underestimated.

"For the victims, they can be life lasting and lifechanging. Perpetrators regularly underestimate the impact of their actions.

"It's not just a conviction but the potential loss of family, reputation and livelihood."