Protecting children from online sexual abuse in Bangladesh: A policy brief

Background: Online sexual abuse is a growing concern in Bangladesh, par cularly as children are increasingly accessing the internet and social media. This paper reviews the prevalence and impact of online sexual abuse on children in Bangladesh, and provides policy recommenda ons to protect children from this type of abuse. Methods: This policy brief was prepared a er reviewing findings of the research works conducted on online child sexual abuse. Results: Around 86% female and 91% male children of Bangladesh use the internet. Among the internet users, about one in two children are sexually abused. In addi on to the Children Act 2013, the government of Bangladesh enacted the ICT Act 2006 and the Digital Security Act 2018 to address cybercrimes. However, these acts do not specifically address the issue of online child sexual abuse. In addi on, the legal provisions lack strict enforcement and the media at mes discloses the iden es of child vic ms including images. Policy recommenda ons: The government, civil society organiza ons, and other stakeholders need to take a comprehensive approach to protect children from online sexual abuse including improving the legal framework, strengthening child protecon mechanisms, increasing awareness and educa on on safe internet use, and empowering children and their families to report incidents of online sexual abuse. Anonymous repor ng system needs to be developed and strict legal measures must be enforced. Conclusion: Protec ng children from online sexual abuse requires a sustained mul -stakeholder approach that involves the government, civil society organiza ons, parents, educators, and children themselves. REVIEW ARTICLE

Online abuse has long-term consequences on children ranging from poor school performance, depressive disorder, anxiety, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorder, substance abuse, self-injury, and suicidal ideation. 9 Victims of cyber abuse are also at higher risk of physical consequences like sleep disturbance, headache, dyspepsia, peptic ulcer, and poor appetite. 10,11 The aim of paper is to examines the prevalence and impact of online sexual abuse on children in Bangladesh and provide policy recommendations to protect children from this type of abuse.

Prevalence in Bangladesh
Online child sexual abuse is a less explored area in Bangladesh. Internet users in Bangladesh have increased exponentially with high-speed internet connectivity since 2013, bringing the total number of users to 10 million. 12 A large number of these users are children. Almost 32% of children in Bangladesh aged between 10 and 17 face cyberbullying and cyber harassment. 13 Mubassara et al., in their study, found that about 21% of rural children in Bangladesh reported that they received sexually explicit messages, and 17% reported receiving videos or pictures with sexual content. 14 Newspaper reports also show a considerable number of children getting exposed to unpleasant online experiences. 15  Protecting children from online sexual abuse 112 HIGHLIGHTS 1. Online sexual abuse is a growing concern in Bangladesh, particularly as children are increasingly accessing the internet and social media.
2. The government, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders need to take a comprehensive approach to protect children from online sexual abuse.
Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989. Bangladesh ratified the UNCRC and enacted the Children Act of 2013 to meet international standards. This act incorporates two approaches to safeguard children. 19 The protective approach focuses on shielding children from mistreatment and includes provisions such as establishing children's courts and prohibiting the publication of reports revealing the identity of the child.
However, these provisions lack strict enforcement, as the media sometimes discloses the identities of child victims including images.
The Children Act mandates the establishment of a 'child affairs desk' in every police station led by a Child Affairs Police Officer (CAPO). The CAPO is responsible for maintaining separate records for cases involving children, coordinating with probation officers and parents or caregivers, addressing the child's basic needs, assessing the child's age, exploring diversionary measures, and preparing separate charge sheets for child offenders. Nevertheless, implementation of these provisions has been lacking, even after a decade since their enactment. 18 On the welfare side, the Children Act promotes methods to reintegrate child offenders into the society, such as diversion, family conferences, the establishment of child development centers and certified institutes. 19 However, compliance with these legal provisions has not always been consistent in Bangladesh.
In addition to the Children Act, the Bangladeshi government enacted the ICT Act of 2006 to address cybercrimes, and the Digital Security Act of 2018 to prevent the spread of hate speech, extremism, and terrorist propaganda through various media channels. However, these acts do not specifically address the issue of online child sexual abuse.

Global initiatives
There have been several global strategies and initiatives aimed at protecting children from online sexual abuse.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of them. The SDGs include targets related to ending violence against children, including online sexual exploitation and abuse. Target 16.2 calls for ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children, while target 8.7 aims to eradicate forced labor, modern slavery and human trafficking, including child labor and child recruitment. 20 The Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online is an initiative launched in 2012 by the US Department of Justice, which brings together governments, NGOs, and the private sector to combat the sexual exploitation of children online. The alliance focuses on four key areas: prevention, deterrence, victim identification and support, and international cooperation. 21 The WePROTECT Global Alliance is another international initiative launched in 2014 to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The alliance brings together governments, industry, and civil society to address the issue through various strategies such as increasing awareness, building capacity, strengthening legal frameworks, and developing technology solutions. 22 The

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
While the internet has brought numerous benefits, it has also created opportunities for child sexual abuse, which has become a growing problem. Children are particularly vulnerable to online sexual abuse as they may not understand the risks of the internet and how to   the internet and seek assistance in case they face problems regarding child marriage. As online child abuse is widely prevalent and a growing public health concern, there needs to be a specific chapter included in the textbooks that discusses the different forms of child abuse and how children can protect themselves from such abuse. In addition, the lessons should be taught as such that children can implement them in real life. The practical section needs to be given more importance rather than just limiting students to learning theories. It

Implementation of laws and policies
The government of Bangladesh implemented the Children Act to consolidate laws related to children's rights. It adopted the protective approach to safeguard

Technical Measures
Children spend a lot of time on the internet and their online activities are increasing day by day, thanks to the widespread of web-enabled devices. Some children access adult content out of their adventurous nature, while many children come across unwanted sexual content unintentionally. YouTube has a "kids' mode" and some mobile devices have restriction modes. However, most of the content on the internet is not child friendly. Some governments of the world like China and countries of the middle east have banned certain apps and games which are addictive to children. 31 The government of Bangladesh have banned pornographic websites in 2018. However, these banned websites can be easily accessed by using proxy servers.
The government needs to make the internet safe for children by filtering contents. In addition, the devices that children use need to be made "child-protected".
Parents and caregivers must ensure that there are safety features added on any and all devices that children use.
The safely features should be as such that children will not be able to access adult content from their devices, no advertisements or pop-ups will appear which redirect children to sexual content, and automatically abusive content will be restricted. It also needs to be supervised that children cannot access the devices that adults use without safety features.

Conclusion
Online sexual abuse of children is a growing problem that warrants counter-actions. By implementing the measures outlined in this policy brief, Bangladesh can take steps to prevent and protect children from online sexual abuse, and ensure that they can use the internet safely and responsibly.