#AarambhIndiaImpact: Forming the National Alliance Against Online Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation
On the 16th of January 2017, the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India hosted the inaugural meeting towards setting up a National Alliance against Online Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation with a specific focus on Child Sexual Abuse Imagery.
Hon. Minister of WCD Ms. Maneka Gandhi had 1st announced the formation of this national alliance during the launch of Aarambh India’s Internet Hotline to report Child Sexual Abuse Imagery. She reiterated that the statistics presented at the launch were appalling and it triggered the thought of putting together a multi stakeholder alliance to tackle the issue in India.
The aim of the National alliance is to develop a comprehensive mechanism that will engage parents, schools, communities, NGO partners, government bodies as well as police and lawyers to ensure better implementation of the law, policy, strategies and standards in relation to protect and safeguard the rights and dignity of our children. As the Hon. Minister contextualized the issue with staggering statistics, the urgency of taking immediate action could not be overstated.
The Hon. Minister chaired the entire morning session – seeking ideas and brainstorming possible solutions to work on this issue. The audience included from representatives from the Ministry of Home, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and key Civil Society Organisations.
Aarambh India’s Internet Hotline was at the heart of these discussions. The statistics from the hotline helped put together a concrete idea of the issue that we were talking about.
Aarambh India has been invited to be a part of the alliance and in the coming days we will be working in collaboration with various stakeholders on a road map to curb Child Sexual Abuse Imagery Online.
- At the end of the day, 6 main objectives were drafted. Click here to read them.
- Bring a common definition of child pornography including amendment of acts (Information technology Act, POCSO Act).
- Set up a multi-member secretariat based in MWCD with a portal inclusive of a hotline for reporting and strengthening existing service delivery systems.
- Provide a platform for Government/ NGOs and other child rights activists for networking and information sharing.
- Document and showcase success stories and best practices in terms of prevention of online abuse and exploitation of children.
- Inform and educate member organisations, parents, teachers, front line service providers and children on the rights of the children and various issues related to online child abuse and exploitation.
- Provide a forum for advocacy for child rights and policy inputs based on research and studies
