Over 40,000 verified reports of online child sexual exploitation were made to The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) in 2022–23. That’s over 100 reports every day. And these numbers are trending upwards. Cases of sextortion have soared by 400 percent in some states in the last 18 months. Targets and perpetrators Young people Read more
More child abuse is carried out by family members and other children than by grooming gangs, according to a new police task force. The government set up the task force last year to tackle what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dubbed “evil grooming gangs”. However, fewer than one in five (19%) of the cases it has Read more
When looking at the entire church, it should not be assumed that everyone is on the same page when it comes to abuse. There are cultural differences in the way abuse is handled within the Catholic Church, according to child protection expert Hans Zollner. Speaking to feinschwarz.net, Fr Hans Zollner emphasised that in many countries, Read more
Recent child abuse statistics reveal a deeper “rot” in our society. Child abuse is unacceptable; it is an inexcusable and despicable act that warrants the prosecution of perpetrators to the full extent of the law, says Save the Children Fiji chief executive officer Shairana Ali. She said this in response to the recent revelation of Read more
One New Zealand has today become the first telecommunications provider in New Zealand to sign up to Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs’ 11 Voluntary principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. From today, it has also begun blocking Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse material (CSAM) at a network level to prevent Read more
Former governor-general Peter Hollingworth admits he has made mistakes, as he accepts the recommendations by an Anglican Church review into abuse allegations that found he is “fit for ministry”. On Monday, the Professional Standards Board for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne made the finding. In a statement, the 88-year-old conceded while he was archbishop of Read more
Like any modern Catholic official, Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of France’s Catholic bishops’ conference, realises clergy sexual abuse is a systemic problem, one that calls for serious reform of the church’s uncertain rules and ingrained secrecy. But recent revelations of sexual misconduct by a cardinal and a bishop on Moulins-Beaufort’s watch show how complicated, Read more
Hans Zollner, one of the Catholic Church’s leading figures in the effort to prevent sex abuse, has commended the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) for revealing that 11 of its members are currently under investigation for such abuse or its cover-up. But the 56-year-old Jesuit priest, who is director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Read more
Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, 78, admitted Monday to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago when he was a parish priest in France. Cardinal Ricard is a member of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; the department charged with investigating abuse cases in the Catholic Church. “I have decided not to remain Read more
Abductions and dehumanising treatment of women and children has become commonplace in Mozambique during the country’s war against terror. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) says that in the Cabo Delgado region this includes sexploitation for “free” food rations. “It is prevalent. Since 2020 we have been receiving reports of women and children from Read more