Police have expressed concern about some emerging crimes against children perpetrated by the abuse of technology to sexually violate the victims.
Deputy Director Gender and Child Protection Assistant Commissioner Gontlafentse Cornelious Segolodi said they have observed, a shift in offences involving children where crimes are being perpetrated through use of technology.
He revealed this during the First Lady of the Republic of Botswana Kaone Boko’s visit to the Maun Child friendly Centre recently.
Segolodi said there is a concerning trend of foreign nationals targeting and grooming children online for sexual purposes, often using social media platforms. He said the perpetrators frequently solicit explicit images, employing threats of exposure to coerce victim. This activity he said also increases the victims’ vulnerability to human trafficking.
He further said that they have noticed the use of spoofing where perpetrators disguise their identity to appear trustworthy, to gain access to social media accounts including those of children. Moreover, Segolodi said in some cases they have observed children being the perpetrators of often serious offences against other children.
Meanwhile, Segolodi said the rise in the number of murdered children, their neglect and sexual violence against them is worrying. He also complained about the growing numbers of cruel punishment of children. He added that these cases are reported much late when the child is already pregnant and they are referred by the health authorities or schools.
“This limits interventions available to the child as in many of these cases pregnancies have progressed quite significantly, “Segolodi said.
Segolodi said that other factors associated with the lack of reporting have been found to include, fear of retaliation by the offender, especially when the latter is a caregiver. Other factors he said include pressure from family members in some cases related to family image, as well as ignorance of the law.
For her part, First Lady urged for children to be taught to memorize the ‘child-line’ contact number especially in schools so that the they can easily report any sort of abuse happening at home. She said some cases are not reported because parents who are supposed to be the caregivers have turned perpetrators.
That as it may Boko said she was impressed with the virtual courts as they are emphasising safe and ethical digital justice for children. She is of the view that children should not be in courts or even police stations as these places may make them uncomfortable, and may end unable to freely narrate the ordeal.
