Kids see, kids try it | Exposure to pornography, violence

Fuelled by online exposure to the twin scourges of pornography and violence, the Women and Children’s Ministry is increasingly having to deal with cases of children imitating “explicit” content and experimenting on other children.Line minister Sashi Kiran reiterated pornography and violence were driving factors for such behaviour among young sexual assaulters, occurring particularly in overcrowded communities and informal settlements.She described current efforts to curb the issue as largely reactive when harm was already done.

“We are now collecting everybody at the bottom of the cliff,” she said.She reiterated the importance of strengthening family and community institutions to protect children from the harmful influences they’re exposed to.“We are seeing incidents where they’re very exposed to pornography or they’re exposed to violent movies, and generally they try and experiment on the younger children,” Ms Kiran said.



“While we try to mediate these cases and apply protection measures under existing laws, the harm is already done.”She stressed the importance of strengthening family and community institutions to protect children from the harmful influences they’re exposed to.“It’s important that every parent, grandparent and family member keeps an eye on the children.

“You’ll be able to see the signs if you see that the child is not acting normal.”Ms Kiran described current efforts as largely reactive, saying, “We are now collecting everybody at the bottom of the cliff. It’s too late for that.

”The ministry is collaborating with various agencies to increase support for families and push preventive measures to stop abuse before it begins.One major effort includes coordination with the Pornography Task Force and the newly established Online Safety Commission.“There are regulations in place now and I think the online commission will be able to tell you in the right terminologies.

“We have ratified the Budapest Convention, and we are also looking at the additional protocol to be able to share across jurisdictions.”Ms Kiran said the Government was working closely with telecom operators and host sites to improve the speed at which illegal content, especially child exploitation materials, could be taken down.“You’ll see that with the online commission, awareness and training is happening.

“We are more looking at protecting those children and also ensuring we support those children and their parents in that space.”The post Kids see, kids try it | Exposure to pornography, violence appeared first on The Fiji Times..