Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Social Media Emerging As A Route For Child Trafficking

An 11-year-old girl, hadn't met her friends for months, forget having a hearty laugh together. With studies moving online, the girl's life revolved around her laptop the whole day. Feeling low, she posted a message on social media about how lonely she was feeling. Little did she know that her message would catch the eye of a trafficker scouting for children on the web.

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Scores of children are being spotted and groomed by traffickers and being sexually abused online. An emerging trend that has assumed worrying proportions feeding into the dark web of Child Sexual Exploitation Material or CSEM.

Psychologist, Anjali Chhabria says the predators keep an eye on children and track their movements. She adds,

Traffickers can be manipulative. They know how to play with a child's mind. They'll start engaging with the child, to lure it with affection, then they'll show aggression and finally, they will disappear and won't speak to the child, to confuse it. That is how they control children.

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The fact that traffickers have adjusted to the new normal and are using social media and other online platforms to exploit victims is also highlighted in a recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study.

The latest Trafficking in Persons Report, 2021, released by the United States, reveals there was a reported 95 per cent rise in online searches for CSEM in India. India also ranked among the highest countries in the world for material related to child sexual abuse found online.

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Parents can adopt a few simple measures to keep children safe including maintaining open communication to explain possible threats, using tech tools to protect their children, spending time with children online and explaining the dos and don'ts of social media and encouraging healthy online habits by promoting and monitoring online behavior.

Rakshit Tandon, cyber security expert says,

Our children need to understand cyber hygiene, digital wellness and cyber laws. They should also have a balanced digital diet. What content to be consumed, what not to be consumed. One should not say no to games or social media. They should know the responsibility of using social media and how responsible the children should be in using applications that are meant for their age. That is a very important factor.

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The centre is set to introduce a new Anti-Trafficking Bill which aims to combat new forms of trafficking including online trafficking and includes a provision which states that physical movement or transportation of victims is not necessary to define the crime of trafficking.

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