In 10 years, the amount of child sexual abuse content has increased by 6,000% in Europe. This terrifying figure goes hand in hand with the digital explosion in our societies and calls for attacking it with the appropriate weapons. In an interview given to Worldcybercrime consultant Murielle Thiebierge-Batude offers concrete tools for tracking down juvenile offenders and insists: “ the urgency of developing a real global system for the defense of minors”.
Cyber pedophilia has exploded for 10 years
Childhood crime is an age-old scourge that has taken advantage of the digital age to extend its hunting ground beyond physical borders. It is estimated that in 10 years the number of child pornography content has increased by 6,000% and since the COVID emergency, the various associations that fight against sexual violence against minors have recorded an exponential increase in reports.
If the extent of the phenomenon on the Internet makes it possible to raise awareness and systematize complaints, the web continues to guarantee almost total impunity for criminals. Murielle Thiebierge-Batude, former victim and cybercrime consultant, founded in 2022 the #IWAS association, which designs plural resources fight child crime and cybercrime. It dresses for everyday life The world a damning observation:
“The CSAMs [Child Abuse Sexual Material, soit des photos ou des vidéos qui montrent un enfant sur lequel on commet un acte sexuel] they abound on the Internet and Dark Net. There are categories of videos: 0-2 years, 3-5 years, etc. It is the same as an online store. These crimes now have materiality, through the videos and photos of child rapes being exchanged on pedophile forums in cyberspace. These children exist, so they can no longer be ignored, and these contents constitute signed evidence. »
Murielle Thiebierge-Batude, Le Monde, 22 January 2023
Standardized tools to fight juvenile offenders
The #IWAS association is inspired by the methods of fighting economic cybercrime or military cyber defense to create standardized protocols to prevent and combat online and offline paedocrime. These tools and resources are aimed at police services, associations or structures that welcome young people. Since its creation, #IWAS has already developed three lines of action:
“The first concerns the creation of a standard, such as a label, for organizations that welcome children (…). The second is to consolidate a methodology on paedocriminal risk management in the form of a document that can be used by all organizations, a municipality for example. This document will detail the feared events, the security objectives, the security measures to be taken; will provide strategic and operational scenarios of the aggressor, explain how to detect weak signals from victims, how and to whom to report them, etc. The third is an artificial intelligence tool that will be able to detect the intentions and acts of online pedophiles. »
Murielle Thiebierge-Batude, Le Monde, 22 January 2023
A report published in 2021 estimates that in France, 14.5% of girls and 6.4% of boys would be victims of sexual violence before the age of majority. Faced with these monstrous statistics, collective action is needed, uniting public authorities, associations, early childhood actors and society in general, in the fight against pedophile crime.
Cover photo credit: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels
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Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
