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Addressing the Increase of Online Child Sexual Abuse in the COVID-19 Pandemic
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the L country and around the world issued "safe at home orders," causing much of society to remain at home, moving our world further online. But at home and online is not always a safe place, and a myriad of pandemic factors have left some of the most vulnerable children at an increased risk of exploitation and abuse.
With the closure of schools, vulnerable children are isolated from the support of friends, teachers, and school counselors. Perpetrators have taken advantage of increased, often unsupervised, time of minors online, as well as the challenges online service providers are facing in quickly removing content with work-from-home constraints. Some children are forced to shelter in place with their abusers, who for reasons including stress, financial instability, or even boredom have seized the opportunity to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM)1 and distribute it online.2
Even before the onset of the COVID19 pandemic, the proliferation of CSAM had "grown exponentially" as use of online communications has increased.3 For decades, there has been an increase in "the distribution of child pornography, in the number of images being shared online, and in the level of violence associated with child exploitation and sexual abuse crimes . . . the only place we've seen a decrease is in the age of victims"4 In 2019 alone, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received more than 16.9 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation, which included 69.1 million files.5
The problem has only compounded throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial reports indicate a significant increase in the sharing of CSAM online since early 2020.6 For example, NCMEC experienced a 98.66 percent increase in reports of online enticement between January and September 2020 as compared to the same time period in 2019.7 Evidence also shows an increase in self-generated CSAM8 as more online time has allowed greater opportunities for perpetrators to groom and exploit children.9
It is unclear when "offline" life will resume. Many children have either not returned to school or returned in limited capacities; law enforcement investigative capacities remain stretched to their limits; criminal court proceedings remain backlogged; and large...