Children’s rights advocates on Tuesday stressed the importance of addressing the issue of online child sexual exploitation at a public hearing held by New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) in Taipei.
While it is difficult for the average person to imagine, images of children being subjected to sexual abuse, sexual assault or sexual exploitation are treated by some as “products with commercial value,” ECPAT Taiwan secretary general Chen I-ling (陳逸玲) said.
As demand for such material exists, it has resulted in supply and more victims, she said.
In South Korea, due to the “Nth Room” scandal, people are calling for heavier penalties to be imposed for the possession of images involving the sexual exploitation of children and young people, Chen said.
Not enough importance is attached to the investigation of cases involving sexually exploitative images of children and young people, she said.
There is also room for improvement in terms of the ability of police to investigate such cases, she added.
While the International Criminal Police Organizationand the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, commonly known as Europol, treat the online sexual exploitation of children and young people as serious cybercrimes, such cases are often not prioritized in Taiwan, Chen said.
However, the blame should not be placed on frontline police officers, Chen said, adding that the investigation of such cases depends on the attitudes of decisionmakers.
Police have limited resources, and if all of their resources are invested in handling other crimes, then there would be an imbalance, she said.
Online grooming should be punished as an independent crime, instead of simply being treated as a preparatory act, she added.
A proposal submitted by the Child Welfare League Foundation and ECPAT Taiwan on the National Development Council’s online public policy participation platform to amend laws to allow the production, distribution or possession of sexually exploitative images of children to be severely punished has already received the backing of the 5,000 people needed to elicit an official government response, foundation representative Lee Hung-wen (李宏文) said, adding that a response is expected before June 9.
He called for better efforts to prevent children from going missing or running away, saying that in doing so, authorities could also prevent cases of sexual exploitation.
Garden of Hope Foundation representative Hung Ya-li (洪雅莉) said that it is important to help children who run away from home due to family conflicts find a safe place to stay.
It would prevent children from entering high-risk situations after leaving home, she said.
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