{"id":5030,"date":"2024-05-20T03:05:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T07:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/?p=5030"},"modified":"2024-05-23T12:06:17","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T16:06:17","slug":"bangkok-un-summit-highlights-urgent-need-to-combat-child-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/2024\/05\/20\/bangkok-un-summit-highlights-urgent-need-to-combat-child-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangkok UN Summit Highlights Urgent Need to Combat Child Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

A UN summit in Bangkok last week underscored the crisis of children being sexually exploited and abused both online and offline, while experts presented prevention and protection strategies.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweden\u2019s Queen Silvia<\/strong>, who has devoted decades to combatting child sexual abuse and trafficking, was a keynote speaker at the event.<\/p>\n

The Child Protection Summit Bangkok 2024<\/strong>, held at the\u00a0UN Conference Centre<\/strong>\u00a0on Thursday (May 16), featured panel discussions on child exploitation and abuse. Key sessions included\u00a0\u201cKey Steps to Reduce Child Sexual Abuse Online\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0\u201cProtecting Children from Sexual Abuse: Challenges and Key Steps Forward\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The session on the first topic was led by\u00a0Dr Mark Charoenwong\u00a0<\/strong>from\u00a0the Office of the Attorney-General<\/strong>. Joining him were\u00a0Pol Captain Khemachart Prakayhongnamee\u00a0<\/strong>from\u00a0the Department of Special Investigation (DSI)<\/strong>,\u00a0Dr Srida Tan-atipanit\u00a0<\/strong>from the\u00a0Internet Foundation of Thailand<\/strong>, and child protection expert\u00a0Guillaume Landry<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0ECPAT International<\/strong>, the only NGO network dedicated to fighting against the sexual exploitation of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren often know how to use smartphones before they learn to speak,\u201d\u00a0Landry<\/strong>\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n

In Thailand, 9% of internet-using 12-17-year-olds \u2013 approximately 400,000 children annually \u2013 are subjected to online sexual exploitation and abuse, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost children disclose their trauma to people they are close to, particularly their mothers. Yet, both caregivers and children are reluctant to use formal reporting channels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Scourge of pornography<\/strong><\/p>\n

Srida<\/strong>, however, said that the number of child abuse cases reported to\u00a0ThaiHotline<\/strong>,\u00a0INHOPE\u00a0<\/strong>and other complaint centres has risen significantly and is expected to rise further.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMost child sexual abuse cases on the internet occur among children aged three to 13, according to a 2022 report from\u00a0INHOPE [a global network of member hotlines leading the fight against Child Sexual Abuse Material online]<\/strong>. This is in contrast to about 10 years ago, when the majority of victims were secondary students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cycle of trading child pornography online seems endless,\u201d\u00a0Srida<\/strong>\u00a0lamented. \u201cYoung victims suffer profound mental trauma, and some even resort to suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khemachart\u00a0<\/strong>agreed, noting that the\u00a0Covid-19<\/strong> pandemic has driven more children into the online realm, making them more accessible to perpetrators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The second session,\u00a0\u201cProtecting Children from Sexual Abuse: Challenges and Key Steps Forward\u201d<\/strong>, featured\u00a0Thientong Prasanapanich<\/strong>\u00a0from the\u00a0Department for Children and Youth<\/strong>. Joining him were\u00a0Muhammad Rafiq Khan from UNICEF<\/strong>,\u00a0Dr Sombat Tapanya\u00a0<\/strong>from\u00a0the Peace Culture Foundation<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Dr Kanthamanee Ladaphongphatthana\u00a0<\/strong>from\u00a0Alternative Care Thailand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thienthong<\/strong>\u00a0spoke about his department\u2019s collaboration with\u00a0UNICEF\u00a0<\/strong>to establish\u00a0Child Protection Community Centres\u00a0<\/strong>nationwide by next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescent boys and girls in Thailand, with 13-17% attributed to violence and bullying,\u201d\u00a0Khan<\/strong>\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

Dr Sombat<\/strong>, meanwhile, revealed that 54% of children experience abuse from caregivers. \u201cThailand\u2019s response is predominantly defensive rather than proactive. We need national policies to empower parents with the knowledge and skills to raise healthy children. Parent training centres should be established in every province,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kanthamanee<\/strong>, meanwhile, highlighted issues within daycare centres, where children often face sexual harassment and abuse by peers or caregivers, leading to violent behaviour such as setting mattresses or even their friends on fire to escape the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than 70% of Thai shelters are not legally registered. Quality care, not more shelters, is needed,\u201d she said, adding that shelters often attract paedophiles seeking easy access to victims, exacerbating their mental health issues and suicide risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time for Thailand to seize this opportunity to put into effect a legal framework by collaborating with all relevant parties to end the exploitation and abuse of children in Thailand,\u201d<\/p>\n

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What Queen Silvia says<\/strong>
\nFollowing the panel discussions,\u00a0Queen Silvia of Sweden<\/strong>\u00a0told the media about her 25 years of work with the\u00a0World Childhood Foundation<\/strong>, which she founded in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it came to pornographic content, things were completely different 25 years ago. At that time, people dared not even discuss it. Now that other nations are tackling these problems, the situation is improving. We have to do something about it,\u201d\u00a0Queen Silvia\u00a0<\/strong>said in a group interview.<\/p>\n

The queen recalled that more than 20 years ago, many foreign paedophiles visited Thailand and even if they were arrested for mistreating children here, they were able to return home with ease because there were no legal penalties. Now, however, they stand to face legal consequences back home if they harm children overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many organisations in Thailand working to address the issues [of child exploitation and abuse]. This is a moment of hope to see these organisations continue to put forward and keep up with efforts to end child abuse in\u00a0Thailand<\/strong>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also acknowledged the challenges parents face in the digital age, where children often know more about the online culture than they do. To overcome this, she said, parents should engage more with the children in real-world activities to reduce their online exposure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy being parents. We have to admit that kids are better than us at using the internet. Despite how beautiful and fantastic it is, the internet world is very dangerous,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is not mission impossible, it just takes a long time for huge issues like this to be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n

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source: https:\/\/www.nationthailand.com\/news\/world\/40038177<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A UN summit in Bangkok last week underscored the crisis of children being sexually exploited and abused both online and offline, while experts presented prevention and protection strategies. Sweden\u2019s Queen <\/span>Continue Reading<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[40,61,30,49,62,48,31,23,21,64,65,24,22,27,63],"class_list":["post-5030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anti-human-trafficking","tag-child","tag-child-labor","tag-combatlabortrafficking","tag-ecpat-international","tag-endhumantrafficking","tag-forced-labor","tag-human-trafficking","tag-ministry-of-foreign-affairs","tag-protecting-children-from-sexual-abuse","tag-queen-silvia-of-sweden","tag-royal-thai-embassy","tag-thai-labor","tag-thai-nationals","tag-un"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5030"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5052,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030\/revisions\/5052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}