A third of kids receive cyber porn
About 63% of Namibian children who took part in a survey had been exposed to disturbing and violent images online, while 31% had been sent sexually explicit images of people they did not know, gender equality and child welfare minister Doreen Sioka said this week.
The respondents, aged between 13 and 17, took part in a study performed by the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP) in 2016.
Sioka also said the government was transforming the training of social workers and police officers in order to best respond to cyberbullying.
Sioka was speaking at a two-day National Online Child Protection Conference.
She said online violence and exploitation are often hidden and therefore difficult to detect and prove.
At this event she launched two manuals titled 'The Child Witness: A Training Manual' and 'Responding to Sexual Violence in Schools - A manual for educators in Namibia'.
She added that prevention and early intervention services include educating children about the danger of online exploitation, which is often a result of a lack of supervision.
“This lack of supervision leads to children experiencing cyberbullying, online stalking, exposure to pornographic images, grooming for the purpose of exploitation as well as sexting,” she said.
The British high commissioner to Namibia, Kate Airey, said British agencies find that offending increasingly takes place online and it includes coercing or extorting children into producing indecent images of themselves or engaging in sexual activity via webcams which can be captured and distributed by offenders.
“Unfortunately, Namibia is no exception to these global trends and there are children across the country who are already victim and many more who are vulnerable,” she said.
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JEMIMA BEUKES
The respondents, aged between 13 and 17, took part in a study performed by the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP) in 2016.
Sioka also said the government was transforming the training of social workers and police officers in order to best respond to cyberbullying.
Sioka was speaking at a two-day National Online Child Protection Conference.
She said online violence and exploitation are often hidden and therefore difficult to detect and prove.
At this event she launched two manuals titled 'The Child Witness: A Training Manual' and 'Responding to Sexual Violence in Schools - A manual for educators in Namibia'.
She added that prevention and early intervention services include educating children about the danger of online exploitation, which is often a result of a lack of supervision.
“This lack of supervision leads to children experiencing cyberbullying, online stalking, exposure to pornographic images, grooming for the purpose of exploitation as well as sexting,” she said.
The British high commissioner to Namibia, Kate Airey, said British agencies find that offending increasingly takes place online and it includes coercing or extorting children into producing indecent images of themselves or engaging in sexual activity via webcams which can be captured and distributed by offenders.
“Unfortunately, Namibia is no exception to these global trends and there are children across the country who are already victim and many more who are vulnerable,” she said.
[email protected]
JEMIMA BEUKES
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