A major child protection agency has reported that online grooming crimes against children in the UK have increased by 89 percent in six years. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) reported that more than 7,000 ‘Sexual Communication with a Child’ offences were recorded by police last year. The charity points Read more
It seems having sexual feelings for children isn’t uncommon. A new UNSW Sydney and Jesuit Social Service study found one in five Australian men admitted having sexual feelings towards children and/or have sexually offended against children. That statistic shows the necessity of safeguarding children at early childhood education and care services, and places where children Read more
Even the name of the street disgraced Marylands School was on will be obliterated. A new name for the Christchurch street and its adjacent reserve is being sought. Nobody wants to remember Marylands Place and Marylands Reserve. Both are associated with abuse of children and young people. One in five of the boys who attended Read more
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth has defended the church’s handling of child sexual abuse compensation claims during an at-times heated appearance before a West Australian parliamentary inquiry. On Monday, the Most Reverend Timothy Costelloe said he rejected any suggestion the church was trying to avoid taking responsibility for historical child sex abuses or did Read more
Australia will make search engines like Google and Bing take steps to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence, the country’s internet regulator said on Friday. A new code drafted by the industry giants at the government’s request will require search engines to ensure that such content is not returned Read more
The Victorian Government has recently approved an inquiry into historical cases of child sexual abuse at Beaumaris Primary School, a government-run institution in Victoria, Australia. There are already demands to extend the inquiry to all Victoria state schools. The initial inquiry will investigate abuse that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as ongoing Read more
The Legion of Christ, a Catholic order disgraced by sexual abuse committed by its founder and other clergy, is facing new allegations of molestation of children in lawsuits filed this month in Connecticut. Five men and a woman sued the order in federal court on April 14 and 15, saying they were victims of sexual Read more
At an April 8-10 online symposium with religious representatives from around the world, Pope Francis expressed his hope that religions, together, can fight the profound evil of child abuse. After decades of child sexual abuse scandals the Church is ready to share its successes — and failures — with other religious and lay institutions. Francis’ Read more
One of the Pope’s key advisors on clerical child sexual abuse has written to survivors recognising the suffering and distress they have endured. Fr Hans Zollner is president of the Centre for Child Protection at Rome’s Gregorian University and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. He wrote in response after Read more
Sexual exploitation of children has become rife in Fiji. And the problem is largely hidden from authorities and the public. These are findings in a joint survey by the NGOs Save the Children, and End Child Prostitution and Trafficking International. A recent UN report also revealed that abuse of children in Fiji is usually performed Read more