It appears the scourge of child pornography is just as prevalent as ever. According to Women, Family and Community Development Minster Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun, the police has found 106,764 IP addresses that have been suspected of sharing indecent images of underage children since 2017.
She added that her ministry is taking the issue seriously and has started a campaign to raise children’s awareness on online sexual crimes perpetrated against them. “My ministry views this trend as an unhealthy development, especially as it involves a vulnerable group since exposure to child pornography leads to sex addiction, which can eventually lead to other sexual issues,” Rina said after the campaign’s launch yesterday.
The campaign, she continued, is being used to help children, parents and the community deal with cybercrime, with five main objectives that include increasing children’s understanding of social media safety, highlighting the dangers of unmonitored social media use and raising awareness among parents and the public regarding children’s use of social media.
Rina said children were involved in 641 cases of rape, 438 cases of obscenity, 127 cases of incest, 95 cases of “unnatural sex” and 47 cases of gang rape between January and June this year, according to police records.
She added that her ministry has implemented various efforts, such as establishing the Integrated Action Committee on the Management of Children’s Issues Online on June 15. It has also empowered counselling services in 108 District Social Welfare Offices and appointed 299 Protective Assistants in the Social Welfare Department to help out communities.
It should be noted that while the IP address figure Rina shared was scary enough, the actual number is probably even higher due to many individuals likely using VPNs for criminal activity.
[ SOURCE, IMAGE SOURCE ]
