Addressing and Preventing Child/Girl Abuse Through Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Goals
Presented by Dr. S. ANANDHI, Associate Professor, 
Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, India | Power Point
At the “How Can We Prevent Harmful Consequences from ICTs, and Move Towards a Sustainable Future? virtual panel on May 7, 2024.

Power Point

PROGRAM & BIOS of the SPEAKERS | DESCRIPTION & CONCEPT

Addressing And Preventing Child/Girl Abuse Through Information And Communication Technology for Sustainable Goals

“By leveraging ICT to combat child and girl abuse, we are not only upholding the principles of human rights and dignity but also advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. From Goal 5 (Gender Equality) to Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), our work in this area is essential to building a more just, equitable, and inclusive world for all.“

Let us begin by defining what we mean by “child abuse.” Child abuse encompasses a range of behaviours that harm or endanger the physical, emotional, or sexual well-being of children. It can take many forms, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

Physical Abuse: This involves deliberately causing injury or harm to a child through hitting, punching, kicking, burning, or any other form of physical violence. Signs of physical abuse can include unexplained bruises, fractures, burns, or other injuries, as well as frequent injuries or injuries in unusual places.

Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse is more subtle but equally damaging. It includes behaviours such as belittling, humiliating, threatening, or constantly criticizing a child. Emotional abuse can also involve withholding love, affection, or attention, or exposing a child to domestic violence or other traumatic events. Signs of emotional abuse may include low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, withdrawal, or other behavioural issues.

Sexual Abuse: This involves any form of sexual activity or behaviour with a child, including touching, penetration, exposure to pornography, or any other sexual exploitation. Sexual abuse can have profound and long-lasting effects on a child’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Signs of sexual abuse can include physical symptoms such as unexplained injuries to the genital or anal area, as well as behavioural symptoms such as sudden changes in behaviour, nightmares, bedwetting, or sexualized behaviour that is inappropriate for the child’s age.

Recognizing the signs of child abuse and knowing how to respond appropriately is essential for protecting children and providing them with the support and help they need. It’s also important to create environments where children feel safe and empowered to speak up if they are experiencing abuse or if they suspect that another child is being abused.

1. Prevention of Child and Girl Abuse:

Online Education and Awareness Campaigns: ICT platforms, including social media, websites, and mobile applications, can be utilized to disseminate educational resources and raise awareness about child and girl abuse prevention strategies. These platforms can provide information on recognizing the signs of abuse, promoting positive parenting practices, and accessing support services.

Safe Reporting Mechanisms: ICT solutions can facilitate the creation of safe and anonymous reporting mechanisms for victims and witnesses of abuse. Mobile applications, hotlines, and online reporting platforms can empower individuals to report instances of abuse confidentially, thereby increasing the likelihood of early intervention and support.

Digital Literacy Programs: ICT initiatives aimed at enhancing digital literacy skills among children and adolescents can help them navigate online spaces safely and responsibly. By teaching young people how to identify and respond to online threats, including cyberbullying, grooming, and exploitation, these programs can mitigate the risk of online abuse.

2. Detection of Child and Girl Abuse:

Data Analytics and Machine Learning: ICT tools powered by data analytics and machine learning algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data, including social media posts, online chat conversations, and digital footprints, to identify patterns indicative of potential abuse. These tools can help law enforcement agencies, social services, and NGOs detect cases of abuse more efficiently and proactively.

Digital Forensics: ICT solutions for digital forensics enable investigators to gather and analyse electronic evidence related to child and girl abuse cases. These tools can assist in retrieving deleted files, tracking online activities, and uncovering digital traces of abuse, ultimately strengthening the evidentiary basis for prosecution and intervention.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Image and Video Analysis: AI-powered image and video analysis technologies can automate the detection and classification of harmful content, such as child pornography and explicit material involving minors. By flagging suspicious content for review, these solutions can support efforts to remove harmful content from online platforms and identify perpetrators.

3. Response to Child and Girl Abuse:

Digital Counselling and Support Services: ICT platforms can provide virtual counselling and support services for victims of child and girl abuse, offering confidential assistance via chat, video calls, or online forums. These platforms can connect survivors with trained professionals, peer support groups, and resources for healing and recovery.

Geolocation and Emergency Response Systems: ICT solutions incorporating geolocation technology can enable rapid emergency response to cases of child and girl abuse, allowing authorities to pinpoint the location of victims in distress and dispatch assistance promptly. Mobile applications and wearable devices equipped with panic buttons or GPS tracking capabilities can enhance the safety and security of vulnerable individuals.

Collaborative Case Management Platforms: ICT platforms for collaborative case management enable multidisciplinary teams, including law enforcement agencies, social workers, healthcare providers, and legal advocates, to coordinate their efforts in responding to child and girl abuse cases. These platforms facilitate information sharing, task assignment, and decision-making, ensuring a holistic and coordinated response to the needs of survivors.

The Power of Digital Platforms:

Digital platforms, ranging from social media networks to mobile applications, have become integral tools in our efforts to combat child and girl abuse. These platforms offer unprecedented reach and accessibility, enabling us to disseminate vital information, facilitate reporting mechanisms, and provide support services to those in need.

Educational Resources and Awareness Campaigns:

One of the most effective ways to prevent child and girl abuse is through education and awareness. Digital platforms serve as powerful channels for delivering educational resources and awareness campaigns to a wide audience. Through engaging multimedia content, including videos, infographics, and interactive quizzes, we can empower individuals with the knowledge and skills to recognize and respond to signs of abuse.

Online Reporting and Support Services:

Digital platforms also play a crucial role in facilitating reporting mechanisms and access to support services for survivors of abuse. Online reporting forms, helplines, and mobile applications provide individuals with safe and confidential avenues to seek assistance and report instances of abuse. By leveraging digital technologies, we can ensure that help is just a click away for those in need.

Digital Literacy and Online Safety Programs:

Empowering children and adolescents with digital literacy skills is essential for their safety and well-being in today’s digital age. Digital literacy and online safety programs equip young people with the knowledge and tools to navigate online spaces responsibly and identify potential risks, such as cyberbullying and online grooming. Through interactive workshops, webinars, and e-learning modules, we can empower the next generation to protect themselves and their peers from harm.

Social Media Monitoring and Content Moderation:

As the prevalence of online platforms continues to rise, so too does the risk of exposure to harmful content, including child pornography and sexual exploitation. Social media monitoring and content moderation efforts are critical for preventing the dissemination of such content and safeguarding vulnerable individuals. By implementing automated content analysis algorithms and human moderators, we can identify and remove harmful content, while preserving evidence for investigation and prosecution purposes.

Identifying and addressing challenges in leveraging ICT for combatting child/girl abuse is pivotal for effective intervention and prevention strategies. The digital divide remains a significant obstacle, with uneven access to technology and digital literacy skills hindering the reach of ICT-based interventions, particularly in marginalized communities. Moreover, ensuring the privacy and security of survivors reporting abuse on digital platforms presents a formidable challenge, requiring robust encryption and anonymity features. Additionally, the misuse of technology by perpetrators to exploit and harass children/girls underscores the urgent need for innovative 

A UN expert today warned of the urgent need to put children’s rights at the heart of the development and regulation of the internet and new digital products. Ahead of Safer Internet Day, the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children, Mama Fatima Singhateh, issued the following statement:

“The internet and digital platforms can be a double-edged sword for children and young people. It can allow them to positively interact and further develop as autonomous human beings, claiming their own space. While also facilitate age-inappropriate content and online sexual harms of children by adults and peers.

The boom in generative AI and eXtended Reality is constantly evolving and facilitating the harmful production and distribution of child sexual abuse and exploitation in the digital dimension, with new exploitative activities such as the deployment of end-to-end encryption without built-in safety mechanisms, computer-generated imagery (CGI) including deepfakes and deepnudes, and on-demand live streaming and eXtended Reality (XR) of child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

Although access does not determine the value that children and young people derive from the Internet and digital products, the volume of reported child sexual abuse material has increased by 87% since 2019, according to WeProtect Global Alliance’s Global Threat Assessment 2023.

A review of numerous studies, publications and reports has revealed the intensification of manifestations of harm and exposure of online child sexual abuse and exploitation, both in terms of scale and method. It includes the risk of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, grooming and soliciting children for sexual purposes, online sexual harassment, intimate image abuse, financial sexual extortion and the use of technology-assisted child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

Against this backdrop, States and companies must all work together and invest in solving this problem, and include children’s, victims’, survivors’ and relevant stakeholders’ voices in the design and development of ethical digital products to foster a safer online environment. This responsibility must be immediately embraced across society.

Challenges and Solutions:

Of course, this journey is not without its challenges. Digital divides, privacy concerns, and cultural barriers can all hinder our efforts to leverage ICT effectively. But through collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to equity and inclusion, we can overcome these obstacles and ensure that technology serves as a force for positive change in the lives of survivors.

Case Studies and Success Stories:

To illustrate this point, let me share with you some inspiring examples of how ICT has been leveraged to address child and girl abuse in communities around the world. For instance, the “Safe City” project in India uses crowdsourced data and mapping technology to identify and address sexual harassment and abuse in public spaces, empowering communities to take action against violence. Similarly, the “Girls Not Brides” initiative utilizes online platforms to raise awareness about child marriage and mobilize advocates to end the practice, demonstrating the power of ICT to drive social change.

Towards Sustainable Development Goals:

And finally, let us not lose sight of the broader context in which our efforts are situated. By leveraging ICT to combat child and girl abuse, we are not only upholding the principles of human rights and dignity but also advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. From Goal 5 (Gender Equality) to Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), our work in this area is essential to building a more just, equitable, and inclusive world for all.

Examining the legal frameworks and ethical guidelines for utilizing ICT in addressing child/girl abuse is essential for ensuring responsible and effective intervention strategies. Legal frameworks encompass various laws and regulations aimed at protecting children from abuse and exploitation, including child protection laws, data protection and privacy laws, cybercrime legislation, and international conventions and treaties. These frameworks provide the legal basis for regulating the collection, processing, and sharing of personal data, as well as prosecuting perpetrators of digital abuse. Ethical guidelines, on the other hand, emphasize principles such as a child-centered approach, informed consent, confidentiality, non-discrimination, equity, transparency, accountability, and interdisciplinary collaboration. By adhering to these ethical principles and legal requirements, stakeholders can navigate the ethical and legal complexities of utilizing ICT in addressing child/girl abuse while safeguarding the rights and well-being of children/girls.

Conclusion:

In closing, let us reaffirm our commitment to leveraging Information and Communication Technology as a powerful tool in our fight against child and girl abuse. Let us continue to innovate, collaborate, and advocate for change, ensuring that technology serves as a force for good in the lives of survivors and communities everywhere. Together, we can create a world where every child and girl can grow up safe, empowered, and free from the shadows of abuse.

Power Point

BACKGROUND:
[LMGlobal.Org] The virtual panel titled “How Can We Prevent Harmful Consequences from ICTs, and Move Towards a Sustainable Future?” was organized and presented by The Light Millennium Global through diverse multi-disciplined speakers from academia, NGOs/CSOs, experts, activists, private sector, and youth representatives on May 7, 2024. 
The panel has brought up to the surface both existing and potential harms of ICTs, along with recommendations for solutions. 
The concept was initially developed and proposed in connection with the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference‘s Theme #3, “Science, Technology and Innovation and Digital Cooperation“ in particular, with its “Technology and Innovation and Digital Cooperation” aspects, along with the theme #4, “Youth and Future Generations” since the youth populations are both the core users, and leaders of tomorrow, and being the leaders of today; shaping most ICT companies and related innovative technologies. In this context, the panel presented five student/youth under the “Youth Section.”
Via the above presentation by Dr. Anandhi P., along with the Outcome of the session, including all received-publicly made available related speeches and presentations, LMGlobal.Org proudly supports the #2024UNCSC & #WTISD (May 17).
– Bircan Ünver, Moderator of the session 
PROGRAM & BIOS of the SPEAKERS | DESCRIPTION & CONCEPT

#2024UNCSC, #WTISD, #SOTF, #ChildAndGirlAbuse, ArtificialIntelligence, #DigitalForensics, #AI, #DigitalLiteracy, #ContentModeration, #WeCommit, #DrSAnandhi, #Misinformation, #Disinformation, #ICTsForCooperation, #ICTsForHumanAdvancement, #ICTsForHumanRights, #ICTsForInclusion, #ICTsForPeace, #ICTsForSustainableFuture, #InnovateForProsperity, #lightmillennium, #LMGlobalOrg, #UNWithCivilSociety, #bircanünver,

2024, The Light Millennium Global – www.lmglobal.org | www.lightmillennium.org