Adolescents from lower income strata most vulnerable to online sexual exploitation: CRY study

Adolescents in the age group of 14-18 years, especially those coming from lower income strata are most vulnerable to online sexual exploitation and abuse, a study by NGO Child Right and You (CRY) revealed.

The study ‘POCSO and Beyond: Understanding Online Safety during COVID’, conducted jointly by CRY and Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, showed that Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) has extended its presence across India, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and full features and dimensions of such offenses are gradually becoming a matter of grave concern.

Citing the outcome, CRY said the authorities concerned should take the strictest measures in the best interests of the children. The study was conducted on the occasion of 10 years of enactment of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 2012.

According to the study, one-third (33.2 per cent) of the parents among the respondents reported that their children were approached by strangers via online platforms soliciting friendships, fishing for personal and family details and broaching up sexual advice concerning relationships; and children were shared inappropriate sexual content and were indulged in sexual conversations online.

The study included 424 parents and 384 teachers from four states—West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka—and 107 other stakeholders from WB, MP and Maharashtra.

According to the parents of the children indicating cases of online solicitations and abuse, 40 per cent were adolescent girls in the age group of 14-18, closely followed by adolescent boys (33 per cent) within the same age group. For the parents who had shared that their children have indicated experiences of OCSEA, responses were received more from rural areas than urban areas.

A worrying factor emerged as on being asked what measures they are likely to take if their children faced OCSEA, only 30 per cent of the parents said they would go to the police station and file a complaint, while a worrying 70 per cent discarded the option. Further, only 16 per cent of parents reported being aware of any legislation relating to OCSEA. These findings indicated a huge information deficit and low trust with the legal and law enforcement institutions among the parents, CRY said.

When it came to observing behavioural changes in children indicating the possibility of OCSEA, close to 60 per cent of teachers reportedly witnessed at least two behavioural changes in children, while almost 40 per cent of them observed more than two changes. The most common behavioural changes noticed among children by the teachers were absent-mindedness and unjustified absence from school (both 26 per cent), followed by increased usage of smartphones in school (20.9 per cent).

A total of 497 incidents were reported by the teachers concerning coming across any incidence of OCSEA including bullying, sharing sexual content, and sending inappropriate or pornographic images. Most cases occurred on social media platforms (27 per cent) and individual phone numbers (26 per cent), followed by 11 per cent of such cases during online classes, 21 per cent in formal WhatsApp groups created by the school, and 15 per cent in chat rooms among students of the school.

“With the prolonged closure of schools during the Covid-induced lockdown and with online education coming into currency, easy access to the internet and uncontrolled usage of social media has increased online exposure for children with less or no supervision of parents, thereby making it easier for the online perpetrators to identify the victims, get access to their personal details and connect to the victims to lure them followed by commission of the offence,” the study observed.

“It is exactly in this context that the study places itself on tracking the shift in child sexual abuse to online mode in the cross-section of the period initiating from the onset of the COVID pandemic,” said Puja Marwaha, the Chief Executive at CRY.

Further, speaking at the launch of the study report, Marwaha said, “The research will aim to grab attention of the legal community, civil society organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders/ duty-bearers engaged in the child protection mechanisms, and anticipate a series of initiatives towards fortification at the household and school levels with regards to forewarning and preparedness of the parents and teachers in preventing the OCSEA cases.”

The consultation session on the occasion saw the participation of Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); Mridula Mishra, former judge of Patna High Court and Vice Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University; Raka Arya, Member of Law Commission; Neerja Shekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Deependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Delhi Police; P.M. Nair, Chair Professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and others.

Gangwar insisted on the emerging need for creating public awareness on this topic. Justice Mridula Mishra agreed that child sexual abuse is increasing at a fast pace in India and the need of the hour is to revisit the existing regulations and legislation to make them more effective.

Soha Moitra, director of Development Support at CRY and the head of its regional operations in the North, underscored the importance of re-evaluating and adding more teeth to the existing legal frameworks.

“This research has found that the internet is being used for the trafficking of children in India. Now, with the use of the internet in trafficking, especially among younger children, as indicated in this study, the provisions may need to be re-evaluated. The provisions under IT Act and the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956, (ITPA) do not talk specifically of children but are general in nature and hence applicable in case of children too. Many POCSO offences are committed for or as a consequence of trafficking. There is a need to clearly engage with such interlinkages in definitions of OCSEA offences under IPC and POCSO,” Moitra said.