THERE HAS BEEN A STAGGERING INCREASE IN ONLINE CHILD EXPLOITATION ACROSS GREATER MANCHESTER THIS YEAR

The NSPCC has revealed the shocking increase in recorded cases of sex crimes against children in the region, 2231 of which were carried out online.

There has been an unsettling increase since 2015/16 when the number of cases was 417 but this has steadily risen and by 2018/2019 had reached 628.

The charity sent Freedom of Information requests to all of the police forces in the uk and received responses from 40 out of the 44.

Police in England and Wales have been marking online incidents with a cyber flag for the past four years.

The data collected has revealed the shocking extent of the problem of crimes against those under 18, which include instances of sexual communication with children, online grooming and even rape.

The most common age of the victims was just 13 but there were also offices against children much younger, and even sickening incidents involving babies. There are on average 22 reports made to police forces across the country, per day.

Yet the NSPCC fears that this could be just the tip of a much larger iceberg as the data does not include information regarding other types of online harm against children such as those who have downloaded/viewed indecent images and other materials.

The charities Chief Executive, Peter Wanless, said:

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“Behind each offence is a child suffering at the hands of sex offenders and, worryingly, we know these figures are the tip of the iceberg.

“Far too many children are drowning in a sea of online threats so it’s now time for the next Prime Minister, whoever he may be, to cast out the life jacket. He must hold his nerve and introduce an independent regulator to protect children from the risks of abuse and harmful content.”

 

The government is currently consulting on an online harms white paper, which outlines new laws to crack down on internet companies. Among the proposals under consideration is the introduction of an independent regulator to enforce a legal duty of care on technology companies to keep users safe on their platforms.

Meanwhile social media platforms such as Facebook are saying they have made huge changes to their platforms to make them safer for youngsters. Some like Facebook have age limits on just who can hold an account but these measures are easily worked around upon sign up by simply giving false age information.

Parents are now on the front lines of the battle and are being asked to be extra vigilant as to who their children are communicating with online. With more and more children becoming connected with internet capable devices and the ease of access to social media platforms, the problem is becoming worse by the day.