WINDHOEK, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Namibian government through the support of UNICEF and the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation joined the global fight against online child sexual abuse with the launch of an online portal on Tuesday in Windhoek.
The Namibia Reporting Portal for online child sexual abuse material is set to sensitize the general public to an anonymously report child sexual abuse material and ensure the material is taken down from online platforms.
"The emergence of online child sexual abuse images and videos, also called 'child pornography', is a scourge of our time and a reality in any country. Namibia is not immune to online child sexual abuse material," said UNICEF representative, Marcus Betts at the launch.
According to Internet Watch Foundation representative, Kristoff Claesen, the portal will be hosted in Namibia on the Lifeline/Childline Website.
"It is easy to use. Through five steps, the public can report what they may deem as potential child sexual abuse and our trained analysts based in the UK will analyze, and if it is a treat will take it down as well as notify the law enforcement officials in that country," he added.
Claesen said that it can take the analysts 60 minutes for the website to be removed depending on where it is hosted.
The event was also attended by Namibia's representatives of the Police Cybercrime Units as well as the Information Ministry who said they will work hand in hand with their partners to curb the crimes against children.
Meanwhile in a research study of ICT use and online protection risks by children (age 13-17 years) that was conducted in Namibia in 2016 with the support of UNICEF, 29 percent of respondents had seen child sexual abuse material online. Enditem
