Child Online Protection in Child Pornography Namibia Regulation in Namibia UNICEF Namibia Presented by: Jolanda van Westering
Outline Introduction Typology of online abuse and exploitation Scale and response in African region Online safety risks in Namibia Response in Namibia
Data on COP in Africa ECPAT study on Unsafe use of ICT in Africa: 54% of children have seen children of their age portrayed in pornographic materials 10% of children was contacted online and asked to share sexualized pictures of themselves; 14% had met someone after first contact online 22% of SA teen girls and 20% of SA boys had sent self-produced (semi) nude pictures of themselves to others CJCP Study (South Africa) 14% were worried or felt threatened by online harassment 10% asked to do something sexual Court cases: SA: case of two boys, aged 14 and 16 years old arrested after raping a 15 year old girl and filming it on their mobile phones UK: case of 18 year old Keeley sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for cyber-harassment and threatening to kill another 18-year old girl
Regional Context COP is addressed in various countries in the region: Uganda: reporting mechanism and national cybersecurity strategy in place; new child pornography provision enacted in 2014 Kenya: country data profile on ICT with focus on children; national policy to be developed; legislative reform on the way to address online offences against children through cybercrime law South Africa: amendment of various provisions on online sexual offences against children Egypt: multi-stakeholder committee involving all national stakeholders and industry players; COP integrated in formal education curriculum Mauritius: child online safety Action Plan being implemented by multiple stakeholders in the country; child sexual abuse content filtering system established
Online Safety Risks in Namibia 2016 NUST research on use of ICTs by children and awareness of online risks: 68% had seen sexual content online they did not wish to see; 31% had been sent sexually explicit images of people they didn t know; 29% had seen child pornography content. Holistic approach part of global action around #WeProtect Children Online Initiative Namibia one out of the 17 lead countries part of this Initiative with UK support Initiative aimed to build resilience of children to mitigate the risks emanating from the Internet Strengthen capabilities to identify and protect victims, remove child sexual abuse material from the internet and co-operate across the world to track down perpetrators
COP in Namibia strong national commitment National Response Plan for Namibia has been developed with stakeholders Six areas addressed: Policy and Governance Criminal Justice Victim Societal Industry Media and Communications
National Action Plan: Policy and Governance GRN-UNICEF National Stakeholder Task Force on Child Online Protection (2015) to coordinate action Signature by the Government of the Republic of Namibia of the #WePROTECT Statement of Action in March 2016 a Adoption of National Model Response as framework for action in Namibia in May 2016; Exploratory research study on ICT use and online protection risks by adolescents in Namibia (MoICT, NUST/CJCP); institutional review Electronic Transaction and Cybercrime Bill (MoICT) comparative legal analysis to guide relevant provisions in the draft Bill
National Action Plan: Criminal Justice Police training on online CSE (international cooperation); (MoSS/NAMPOL); Multi-disciplinary training programme for social workers, prosecutors, magistrates and police on handling child (online) sexual offences (MoJ/OoP/MoSS/MGECW)
National Action Plan; Victim, Society, Industry Expanded Child Helpline services & database to cover CSEA School-based advocacy with caregivers, learners School Health manual (MoE) CRAN awareness campaign Youth reporters (CL/LL) Mobile Operators part of TF and national workshop on Child Online Safety and Business
National Conference on Child Online Protection Over 100 representatives from national Government agencies, child representatives, civil society, academia, private sector, development partners and diplomatic missions as well as 12 international experts in the field of (online) child abuse and exploitation High level opening and launch of research by Deputy Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, British High Commissioner, Lieutenant-General, Representative of Children s Parliament, UNICEF Country Representative
National Conference on Child Online Protection Key commitments for 2017-2018: Generate data and evidence on (online) CSEA risks and responses and raise awareness among the public, professionals and policy makers; Comprehensive legal framework to promote a supportive and safer online environment for children and young people; Establishing a public and industry reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation and abuse content online, with links to law enforcement and child protection systems; Building capacity to tackle CSEA cases within law enforcement (cybercrime and online CSEA response), social workers and judiciary; Setting up education and awareness raising programmes for children and young people, parents/caregivers, teachers/school counsellors and faithbased leaders.
Thank you!