How To Protect Your Children Against Predators

In a country like Nepal, many forms of violence against women and children exist, such as child marriage, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other heinous crimes often committed against marginalized groups. As the whole world turns into the digital age, these crimes have only found their way into the online space, and predators have new ways to exploit women and especially children. 

In this article, we will help you understand what online sexual abuse is and the dos and don’ts in protecting your children before it’s too late. 

What is Online Sexual Abuse? 

Online sexual abuse is the use of digital platforms as a means to abuse and/or exploit children sexually. Sometimes, it may coexist with offline child sexual abuse and with an online component. Millions of children are being exploited every year, and are often only given adult intervention until it’s too late. 

Often, parents or children themselves are blamed for the children’s access to online platforms. But in a country where poverty is rampant, turning to social media use for entertainment is one of the most accessible forms of coping with one’s day-to-day life, especially when platforms are inherently designed to be addictive. 

 

 

“Harmless” Posts by Parents

To parents, their children are their pride and joy. And in this age of oversharing and overconsumption of digital content, it is way too normalized to share every milestone and cute moment in various media formats. 

What many people do not realize is that behind those flattering engagements of likes and comments, some people are hiding much more sinister intentions. A child’s photo or video could be easily downloaded and then AI-manipulated for explicit content. In just a few clicks, what was once a cute picture can then be sold anonymously in online black markets for child pornography. It is hard to wrap our heads around how people would want to see the appeal in content like this, but sadly, they exist, and there are many of them. 

To protect your children, you can start with some of these dos and don’ts.

Do:

1. Set your accounts to private

It does not matter whether you have 10 or 10,000 friends on Facebook. You will never know what goes on behind other people’s computer screens. The solution? Lock your profiles, set them to private, and only allow trusted friends and family to access your information.

2. Blur or cover the faces of minors

Many people think that when they see a cute kid, they could just post it on their social media accounts. One may ask, “Is this even legal?” Well, it depends on which country you are posting it in. In Nepal, posting photos of minors without their parents’ consent could lead to legal repercussions like Act Relating to Children, 2075 and the Privacy Act, 2075. Moreover, as a parent or guardian, blurring or covering children’s faces could also protect them from AI-manipulated videos or reposts from malicious websites and communities.

3. Think before you post

Like all other life decisions, practicing intentionality in our actions could make a world of difference. In posting media containing children, consider asking yourself, ‘What am I trying to achieve with this? Does this drop of clout point outweigh the surging risks of real exploitation?

Don’t:

1. Post identifiers

School uniforms, prominent landmarks, plate numbers, and more—every familiar image is just one Google Images search away, so be mindful of the information that the images may hold. 

2. Post private moments

Bath time photos, crying, or nap time moments—these moments of vulnerability are for you and your eyes only. If the child grows up to see these pieces of themselves on the internet, do you think they would be happy to see them there?

3. Interact with strangers

Some traffickers may dress themselves as seemingly trustworthy figures on the internet. After all, it only takes a bit of curation of pictures, captions, and shared content to build an online identity. If you haven’t done the first item in the earlier “Do” list yet, then this could be a good preventative second step.

 

 

Someone else posted my kid, what to do?

While you are trying your best to impose efforts in keeping your child’s privacy, others may not easily comprehend how carefully you value your child’s privacy, even when they have good intentions. There are many instances where children’s faces are posted all around the internet without the parents’ permission on various social media platforms. Although not always out of ill will, these harmless behaviors could cause real harm to the child and their parents. Here’s what to do when someone posts a picture of your child without your consent.

1. Talk to them.

Whether it’s a friend or a close relative, easily set a boundary about not posting your child online. You may explain to them how you think their actions could pose harm to your child. After all, YOU are the parent and not them. 

2. Report

If the first step doesn’t work out, consider reporting their post to the platform or authorities since there is an act that already protects these children online. 

Awareness goes a long way

Awareness is truly one big step towards safety. Unfortunately, those who are vulnerable are not always aware of these things or may not easily stumble upon awareness materials like this in their day-to-day lives. Some of the biggest victims of exploitation start with having a seemingly innocent photo of themselves posted on the internet. Be smarter, more discerning, and follow your instincts—and your children will thank you later.