TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - January 28, 2016) - Today, Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre (Boost CYAC) is announcing a new project in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (Canadian Centre) and other international partners.
Having sexual abuse recorded and distributed online adds an additional layer of trauma for victims of child sexual abuse. To understand the unique impacts of this crime, the Canadian Centre is conducting a survey of the first generation of victims whose abuse has been recorded and distributed online. A working group of international experts will assist in this effort and help determine what policy, legislative and therapeutic changes are required in response to the data collected.
Boost CYAC, with the Canadian Centre and other international partners, is encouraging additional victims to come forward and participate in the survey.
A survivor whose sexual abuse was recorded and distributed on the Internet provided this video message of hope in an effort to reach other victims.
Quotes:
"As a victim of this most horrific form of child sexual exploitation, I have felt alone, misunderstood and helpless. It is time for the world to understand child pornography and the unimaginable impacts it has on us, the victims. We need to find our voice to help those who wish to better understand and help us," said a Survivor of child sexual abuse whose images were distributed online.
"The public nature of these crimes has created a new layer of complexity in the healing process. A victim of online exploitation does not only have to heal from the trauma of the abuse itself but must also learn to accept that the images of their victimization have been or may be shared, reposted and continuously viewed even after the experience ends," stated Boost CYAC President & CEO, Karyn Kennedy.
"It is time that as a society, we take responsibility for the harsh realities that these victims face when the sexual abuse perpetrated against them has been recorded, posted and shared online," said Lianna McDonald, the Canadian Centre's Executive Director. "Victims often describe the lack of control over the ongoing sharing of their abuse images and the public accessibility as one of the most difficult aspect to overcome -- and this needs to change."
Important Facts:
- 43,000 images were analyzed by the Canadian Centre for Child protection's 2016 report: Child Sexual Abuse Images on the Internet: A Cybertip.ca Analysis
- 79% of the images and videos depict very young, prepubescent children under 12 years of age, with the majority of those younger than 8 years of age (64%)
- 80% of the children are girls
- The younger the child in the image, the more severe the abuse
- 69% of the images are captured in a home setting
- 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys will experience some form of abuse before they turn sixteen years old
- Each year in Toronto, over 40,000 calls are made to child protection agencies to report concerns of abuse
- 93% of abusers are known to their victims
About Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre
Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre is an organization that for 34 years has provided services to children, youth and their families to prevent child maltreatment and intervene when abuse takes place. The only one of its kind in Toronto, Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre provides a creative community response to child abuse investigations. A partnership among local and government agencies, it brings together all of the professionals involved in child abuse investigations and recovery support with the goal of providing seamless, interdisciplinary response to children and youth when they disclose abuse and to their families. www.boostforkids.org
About the Canadian Centre for Child Protection
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a national charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of all children. The Centre's goal is to reduce child victimization by providing programs and services to the Canadian public.
About Cybertip.ca
Owned and operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Cybertip.ca is Canada's national tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children. In operation since September 2002, Cybertip.ca was adopted under the Government of Canada's National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet in May 2004 and has continued to be an integral component of this strategy, along with the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
Cybertip.ca is mandated to receive and process reports from the public about potentially illegal material, as well as activities related to the online sexual exploitation of children, and refer any relevant leads to the appropriate law enforcement agency, INHOPE member hotline and/or child welfare agency. On average, Cybertip.ca receives over 3,000 reports per month. Reports to Cybertip.ca have resulted in law enforcement arresting at least 550 individuals, and the removal of 488 children from abusive environments.
Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/1/28/11G080627/CSAImages_CtipAnalysisReport_SUMMARY-fc7b2627cf68b9bfacf329ccab9ac1fb.pdf
Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/1/28/11G080627/CSAbuseImageryProject_Backgrounder-0dbeff44da09ad4999c6a999cb9ee815.pdf
Contact Information:
CONTACT:
Lindsay Jolie
Director of Communications & Community Relations
(416) 560-7568
jolie@boostforkids.org
