The Guardian reports that artificial intelligence could further fuel an epidemic of child sexual abuse, Britain’s top law enforcement agency has warned, as it said that one in every 50 men pose a risk to children.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates that up to 830,000 adults – 1.6% of the adult population – represent some degree of sexual danger to children, a figure labelled “extraordinary” by its director general, Graeme Biggar. He added that online abuse images were having a “radicalising” effect that “normalised” such behaviour.
The rapid onset of artificial intelligence (AI) means the threat to young people will only increase as fake images flood the internet, Biggar said – while other experts warned that instruction manuals on exploiting the new technology are already circulating online.
The head of the NCA, the agency that spearheads the fight against serious and organised crime, said: “We assess that the viewing of these images – whether real or AI-generated – materially increases the risk of offenders moving on to sexually abusing children themselves.”
Understanding of the existing threat was still growing, and Biggar said that most child sexual abuse (CSA) involved viewing images. Eight out of 10 arrested in connection with such abuse are male, and Biggar agreed that this meant around 2% of men posed a risk.
Unveiling the NCA’s annual threat assessment, Biggar said: “We estimate that there are between 680,000 [and] 830,000 adults in the UK that pose some degree of sexual risk to children. These are extraordinary figures: roughly 10 times the prison population.
“They partly reflect a better understanding of a threat that has historically been underestimated, and partly a real increase caused by the radicalising effect of the internet, where the widespread availability of videos and images of children being abused and raped, and groups sharing and discussing the images, has normalised such behaviour.”
The NCA’s National Assessments Centre produced the figures, and claimed that its methods were sound.
You might like..
no
0
A senior Interpol official has warned of a "silent epidemic" of live-streamed child abuse, escalating due to the pandemic - The Telegraph reported. The abuse, often orchestrated by British and US perpetrators, is conducted globally, with hotspots in…
0
9
Eurochild supports the Right In Front of Us campaign asking lawmakers and tech companies to work together to stop online sexual abuse. PRESS RELEASE 22 February 2023_ On the European Day for Victims of Crime we…
0
130
A study under the project "Supporting the implementation of Barnahus (Children's House)" run by the Council of Europe was published on the 6th of October, in Slovenia after 1,100 face-to-face interviews.
The main findings of the study are:
Sexual…
0
126
The Caring for Child Survivors (CCS) of Sexual Abuse Guidelines were developed to respond to the gap in global guidance for health and psychosocial staff providing care and treatment to child survivors of sexual abuse in humanitarian setting. The…
0
109
The researchers worked to understand the behaviours of perpetrators "who sexually abused children across a broad range of contemporary institutional contexts in England and Wales". The study analyzes the circumstances and other factors of…
0
93
CRCA/ECPAT Albania, with the participation of the ECPAT International, PROMISE Barnahus Network, and the Children’s Rights Division of the Council of Europe, are holding the International Forum "BARNAHUS: A successful model in protecting children…
0
145
This report by UNICEF and End Violence Against Children aims to support the further work of UNICEF, partner organizations, researchers, experts and policymakers in preventing and responding to sexual abuse and exploitation of children, taking into…
0
68
A new report on child sexual abuse has been published by the Truth Project part of The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (‘the Inquiry’). This program aims to explore and consider the extent to which state and non-state…
0
112
This report by UNICEF and End Violence Against Children aims to support the further work of UNICEF, partner organizations, researchers, experts, and policymakers in preventing and responding to sexual abuse and exploitation of children, taking into…
0
1511
This infographic from Parenting Safe Children shows how to keep children safe from sexual abuse. It debunks common myths, offers “must teach” body-safety rules, and gives you specific questions for screening caregivers.
yes
0
658
The research on the Child Sexual Abuse Within the Circle of Trust, which was realized in cooperation with the State Agency for the Protection of Children’s Rights, responds to the needs of institutions to shed light upon a phenomenon that…
0
149
This booklet is created to inform parents about various forms of online harm and ways to effectively help and support their children.
What do you do if online sexual harm happens and how can you respond to an autistic child from the…
0
68
This report brief is intended for policymakers and partners and uses key findings and evidence to propose a framework for action to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation. It presents the so-called Theory of Change, identifies…
0
34
Kailash Satyarthi, a Nobel peace prize winning laureate wrote a piece for Telegraph warning about the dangers of child sexual abuse on internet, saying this phenomenon is far more spread than we tend to think and the measures that are usually…
0
192
Last year the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre published its first annual Threat Assessment of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (TACSEA), which examined current and emerging threats posed to children in the United Kingdom…
