Childlight push for action at global summit

Childlight has urged governments to act to protect children from a global pandemic of sexual exploitation and abuse as ministers from around the world gathered at a major summit in November.

The Edinburgh University-based team were at the first Global Ministerial Conference on ending violence against children, in Bogotá.

Discussions were informed by Childlight data after the institute created the first global estimates of the scale of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA), revealing more than 300 million children have been affected. Live Childlight counters displaying the number of children impacted while the conference was underway were displayed throughout the venue. The institute’s data was also cited by UNICEF.

The summit led to 101 government pledges of action on violence against children, including tackling sexual exploitation and abuse.

Deborah Fry, Professor of International Child Protection Research and Childlight Director of Data, said: “It is crucial those pledges of action are honoured. Online child sexual exploitation and abuse is a global pandemic affecting ten children every second. The commitment of all those present at the conference was very encouraging, but the success of the event will be judged by the action that is taken. Children need action now, they can’t wait.”

Childlight produces an annual index of OCSEA with future editions due to provide more focus on individual countries. The institute engaged with governments at the event to discuss how they can support data gathering and sharing.

The ministerial conference was convened by the Government of Columbia, with the support of the Government of Sweden, UNICEF, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, and the World Health Organisation.

The conference aimed to be an historic moment to re-imagine a world where all children are safe in their homes, schools, communities and online.