The rise of live-streamed child abuse – and Britain’s role in it

Child Sexual Abuse: The Silent Epidemic

The Impact of Live-Streamed Abuse and the Urgent Need for Action

1. The Issue at Hand
2. The Scale of the Problem
3. The Role of Western Countries
4. The Challenges Faced by Law Enforcement
5. The Need for Collaborative Solutions

1. The Issue at Hand

The image, posted on social media, shows a young girl sitting in a bathtub. Although she is clothed and not posing in a sexual manner, her facial expression – blank and empty – frames the scene with a sinister undertone.

It’s the sort of image that most people might briefly ponder before scrolling on. Yet for those in the know, this type of post – shared on platforms like Instagram or Facebook – is a discrete invite to a dark underworld of online child abuse.

Specifically, it is a subtle ‘tell’ that the account holder has access to children, both girls and boys, and is willing to subject them to the most horrific sexual acts imaginable – for the right price.

What sets this abuse apart, and makes it so difficult to detect, is that it will be live-streamed via ordinary digital platforms, allowing offenders thousands of miles away to dictate the acts in real-time.

Victims, predominantly Filipino, range in age from just two months old through to 18 and, for as little as $25, will be subject to sexual assault, oral sex, rape and even bestiality, with such abuse committed on a daily basis.

It is a more dynamic, iterate form of child sexual exploitation – a far cry from the days of illicit imagery and VHS recordings shared, in person, among paedophiles – and has surged globally in the wake of the pandemic, experts say.

“This has increased since Covid and it is growing,” Stephen Kavanagh, Executive Director of Police Services at Interpol, told The Telegraph.

“The scale of the numbers means that it almost overwhelms us.”

2. The Scale of the Problem

It’s estimated that millions of children worldwide are being sexually abused to order via live-video streams. The vast majority of demand stems from the West.

In Britain, a staggering 1.4 per cent of the male population has engaged in a sexually explicit webcam interaction with a child, according to research from the University of Edinburgh, equivalent to more than 450,000 men.

In Australia, this percentage stands at 1.8; in America, it’s more than twice as high, at 4.2 per cent, the research shows.

Given the lack of action taken by big tech and Western governments, it’s feared these numbers will only rise in the years to come.

“The offenders aren’t afraid to watch and even direct the abuse because they know platforms aren’t doing anything to prevent or detect this,” said John Tanagho, Executive Director of the Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children at the International Justice Mission (IJM), a global human rights NGO.

Yet despite the threat it poses, the crime of live-streamed child sexual abuse – produced overseas, but consumed here in the West – remains overlooked, crowded out by concern and focus on what can be done to better protect our own children against online predation, not the children of others.

Live-streamed abuse “is not being discussed” as it should, believes Kavanagh, who described the phenomenon as a “silent epidemic.”

This raises several questions: what exactly do we know about the crime? Why isn’t it being talked about more? And what more needs to be done to tackle it?

3. The Role of Western Countries

The abuse is largely conducted out of the slums of the Philippines, where English is universally spoken, and sold to American, Australian, or European men, typically over the age of 30. Other countries known to produce this material include Colombia, Romania and Thailand.

Those facilitating the exploitation are usually known to the children; they may be neighbours, friends and family members, including uncles, aunts, siblings and even parents. Indeed, 41 per cent of victims in the Philippines are abused by their mum or dad, research says.

Although the traffickers won’t always perform the sexual acts themselves, they negotiate the specifics of the abuse with customers and set the price of each session, which can last as long as one hour.

Experts say the children can be subjected to multiple sessions a day, all year round. On average, the abuse will persist for two to four years, until the trafficking rings are busted by local police.

In the Philippines, this exploitation is rife. Research from the IJM suggests that as many as 500,000 Filipino children – or one in every 100 – are being sexually abused via live video streams.

Lisa Garcia, a senior IJM lawyer and Filipino national, was “shocked” by the findings but said it tallied with what she saw through her work. “The numbers may be higher,” she added.

4. The Challenges Faced by Law Enforcement

Much of the live-streamed abuse is being directed by paedophiles from the UK, which is the third-largest global consumer of this material, according to the National Crime Agency.

Britain’s presence in the market has been pieced together by domestic arrests made on the ground, both here in the UK and the Philippines, and the analysis of chatroom conversations and suspicious international transactions.

In one case shared with the Telegraph, a British paedophile was arrested in 2017 for the possession of indecent child materials and, during the course of the investigation, it emerged that the man had sent hundreds of payments to obscure Filipino bank accounts.

This information was shared with police in Manilla and one of the accounts was later linked to a female trafficker who had been live-streaming the sexual abuse of her two daughters, leading to an arrest and charges.

In another case, three young Filipino minors – aged five to 11 – were rescued by police in February 2022 after two years of sexual abuse at the hands of their mother.

One of the mother’s most loyal customers was a British national who initially began by paying for live-streamed abuse before flying over to the Philippines to sexually assault the children himself.

“There has been a statement from the children themselves that they were taken to his residence and sexually abused,” said a Filipino

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs Addressed:

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality
2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
4. SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Targets Identified:

• Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres
• Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor
• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
• Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children

Indicators:

• Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months
• Indicator 8.7.1: Number of victims of forced labor per 1,000 persons aged 15 years and older
• Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by age, sex and persons with disabilities
• Indicator 16.2.2: Number of children aged 0-17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month

Analysis:

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The issues highlighted in the article are connected to the following SDGs:

• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the article’s content, the specific targets that can be identified are:

• Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres
• Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor
• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
• Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, there are indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets:

• Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months
• Indicator 8.7.1: Number of victims of forced labor per 1,000 persons aged 15 years and older
• Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by age, sex and persons with disabilities
• Indicator 16.2.2: Number of children aged 0-17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: telegraph.co.uk

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