Online child abuse is a ‘disease’ that must be tackled like Covid, experts claim

Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) is on a scale comparable to Covid-19 and should be tackled as a global pandemic, it is claimed.

The head of the Edinburgh-based global child safety institute Childlight said the crime “behaves like a disease, and that it mutates and adapts to our efforts to stop and prevent it”.

Paul Stanfield said: “Our aim is for CSEA to be treated not just as a social science or policing problem, but as a public health problem, one that can be prevented and treated.”

Stanfield said law enforcement response alone “is not the solution”: “The magnitude of the threat is too great.

“It requires a more holistic, global approach and requires a level of investment comparable to a global pandemic like Covid. We therefore call for this to be treated as a global health pandemic similar to Covid.”

Speaking in International Law Enforcement in a Digital Age meeting from Holyrood Events, which is located next to the INTERPOL General Meeting in Glasgow, Stanfield said that “current methods worldwide are simply not sufficient to protect children”.

Professor Alexis Jayformer chairman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, called for the creation of a frank public debate that confronts the reality of abuse by perpetrators.

Annabel Turner, director of CyberSafe Scotland, said it is difficult to describe “the impact on children and young people” the agency works with: “This is dramatically changing their childhood experiences.”

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said the abuse occurs on a ‘continuum’ and not only harms individual victims but also costs society billions of pounds.

On arguments that sharing images of child abuse online can be “victimless,” Johnson said: “Nothing is victimless.”

Jay’s report into widespread child abuse in Rotherham recommended the adoption of mandatory reporting of concerns about child sexual exploitation and abuse. Although there was some support for this from the previous Conservative government, and the Labor Party also expressed its support before taking office, this reform has not yet been implemented.

Jay said the provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill, which fell due to the timing of the general election, were “watered down” and did not go far enough.

However, she said: “There is an opportunity here for Scotland to do this.”