Online Sex Abuse Cases Soar

Online child sex abuse cases in Thailand will reach a record high this year, as more children remain at home due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

“Children aren’t going to school and criminals are taking advantage of this to look for income during unemployment,” Thakoon Nimsomboon, TICAC leader, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In the last two months, the task force for the police Internet Crimes Against Children (TICAC) has rescued more than 100 children-nearly doubling its figures from 2018 and topping the organisations’ numbers since its founding.

The global spread of cheap, high-speed Internet and mobile phone ownership has fueled cybersex crimes along with the need for families to make a living.

Thailand has strengthened efforts in recent years to combat child sexual exploitation by introducing the TICAC by the Royal Thai Police in 2016, in collaboration with local NGOs in order to monitor perpetrators and their victims.

Wirawan Mosby, director of the HUG Project, an organization that helps trafficked children, said the government should reinforce school internet protection policies, especially if children learn from their homes.

“Having such high figures is not something to be proud of, and law enforcement is not solving the problem at the root cause,” she said.

Child rights experts urge Thailand to enact a law to criminalize the treatment of children for sexual abuse and to protect them from sex trafficking.

 

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

Stay updated with Samui Times by following us on Facebook.