Owing to the superficial procedural actions, eight in ten cases of online sexual abuse do not reach the investigation stage. During ten months of this year, 49 alleged cases of online sexual abuse against children were reported on siguronline.md, an increase of 172% compared with those reported in 2019, Elena Botezatu, program director at “La Strada” Moldova”, was quoted by IPN as saying in a news conference.
Elena Botezatu said the specialists of “La Strada” Moldova offered legal and psychological assistance to 94 child-victims of different forms of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. Of these, 25 are victims of online sexual abuse. The youngest victim is only 6. “We live in a society with a reduced level of empathy and of acknowledgement of dangers that can be faced by a child online. We are a society that criticizes and blames the child for becoming a victim of online harassment or abuse, but cannot assume the failure in preventing these risks by education. The children cannot know these dangers if we, the adults, do not tell them about these in plain words,” stated Elena Botezatu.
Daniel Mazepa, division head at the General Police Inspectorate, said over 170 criminal cases of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation involving minors have been started so far this year. A part of such cases start online as manipulation, contact with the child. An ill-intentioned adult tries to prepare a child for eventual real physical contact by diminishing particular resistance levels and gaining his trust so as to later commit an abuse or more abuses that are most of the times not reported by the child because this is afraid.
The number of cases of online abuse is on the rise owing to the pandemic as a result of which most of the activities were transposed to the Internet. Daniel Mazepa called on the parents, educators, teachers and all the persons responsible for the education of a child to cooperate. The children often hide because they are ashamed or afraid or are those who generate these dangers.
Artur Degtyariov, division head at the National Investigation Inspectorate, stated that online child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation are committed after luring minors for sexual proposes, when the abusers get acquainted with children online and initially discuss safe topics with the aim of gaining the children’s trust and of later discussing intimate subjects with them. They persuade them to send photos of a sexual character. Later, the abusers gain control over the child and manage to also obtain other benefits.
The conference was organized in connection with the European Days on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse that is marked on November 18. On this occasion, “La Strada” Moldova and the General Police Inspectorate signed a long-term cooperation agreement to coordinate and support the common efforts to prevent a number of categories of offenses, including online child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.
