Few of us are shocked by the mention of porn, or even blink at the mention of internet porn, not for the fact that one likes it presence, but the mention of child porn is another story in its own self. Yet while we are shocked and outraged by its existence it is the widest used medium for the sexual exploitation of minors. The internet is this vast seemingly uncontrollable world were things run like wild fires and once out there, there is no way to ever really get it back. Therefore a child victimized by online child sexual exploitation is never free from abuse, continually revictimized by the knowledge that the images remain forever lost in the virtual world. The online commercial child pornography industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, which continues to rise as the use of the internet grows. Due to the fact that many child pornography sites use credit cards and other electronic methods to process payments made by pedophiles, banks and credit card companies have a great opportunity and position to stop the cash flow to these sites and shut them down.

Across the globe investigators are cracking down on internet child porn and the greatest successes are coming as they begin to form more alliances with credit card and internet companies.  Much of the new success comes after years of pushing credit card companies and ISPs to do more to block access to illegal materials.  Earlier this year the European Commission launched the European Financial Coalition (EFC), which is led by the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Center and a dedicated police team.  Founding members of the coalition included MasterCard, Microsoft, PayPal, Visa Europe, Missing Children Europe, and Allen & Overy LLP.  The EFC will help identify and protect victims by focusing on the online payment and following the financial trail (Reuters).  Success in Europe tracking credit card data has already been seen as German Police Smash Child Porn Ring Using Credit Card Data

“We’ve used an entirely new method of investigating this crime and all financial institutions here have been very forthcoming and cooperative in it,” said Torsten Meyer, the operation’s chief investigator. “We’ve been able to arrest 322 suspects in all of Germany, most of them rather affluent people who paid for the incriminating material with their credit cards.”

Efforts such as these are far from quick and simple, and only work with the cooperation across the board from local and international law enforcement, financial institutions and internet companies. As seen in the German case while 322 arrests were made, investigators were unable to gain access to the data for another 20 million credit cards Much still needs to be done to step-up the fight against child sexual exploitation in all forms, but forming alliances with companies and law enforcement is a great step forward.

As we continue to build bigger and stronger alliances prosecutions will surely increase as will more and more sites be shut down. However sadly the world of child pornography is unremitting, the more and more investigators dig the more they find, one victim leads to another and another.  While finding the end to the perpetrators will never cease, the Internets vast reach has made it near impossible that the all of the perpetrators, let alone the perpetrators will ever be found. Many sites are more difficult to track pedophiles on as they do not use financial data, some even more disturbingly accept payment in the form of other child pornographic images for access to child pornographic sites and video downloads.

Please report any sexual exploitation of children to the CyberTipline.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), the awareness month was established to raise awareness of sexual violence, and thus increase prevention. Every April events take place across the county, over the course of this month the goal of all of these events is to highlight the use of sexual violence, and its effects as a major public health issue. Much of the events will be hosted with an aim to reinforce the increased need for prevention programs. This years theme is, Prevent Sexual Violence…in our workplaces, and the slogan, Respect Works!, has been added to the campaign.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 is SAAM Day of Action, which is a day set to specifically focus awareness on sexual violence prevention. The National Sexual Violence Research Center (NSVRC), visit the Community Activities page for ideas on how to observe the day and to post your events on the online calendar.

To join the fight against sexual assault begin this month by attending an event, see the NSVRC calender for events in a number of cities across the US. Check your local cities rape crisis centers, shelters, community groups for events in your hometown.


Resources:
Links for Abused Children and Parents

Crisis Hotlines

Books for Children and Parents of Victims of Abuse

Registering Harm: How Sex Offense Registries Fail Youth Communities

Engaging Bystanders in Sexual Violence Prevention

Rape Prevention and Risk Reduction: Review of the Research Literature for Practitioners

Report Describing Projects Designed to Prevent First Time Male Perpetration of Sexual Violence (Updated)

Cluster bomb treaty signing begins Representatives from more than 100 countries began signing a treaty to ban the use, creation and storage of cluster bombs Wednesday. Some of the world's largest military players, including the U.S., Russia, China and India have refused to support of the effort.

UN envoy to press Nepal on child soldiers Efforts to convince Nepalese authorities to free and help rehabilitate thousands of former child soldiers still living in camps is at the top of the agenda for Radhika Coomaraswamy's visit. The United Nations special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict arrived in Nepal on Monday for a week-long stay.

Bangladesh makes concerted drive against polio
As part of efforts to drive polio from the country by 2011, Bangladesh has immunized 22 million children. More than 600,000 volunteers went door-to-door across the country, ensuring no child was missed.

UN body meets to pass harsh laws against sex tourism
UN participants at the Third World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents agreed to harsh penalties for those who travel seeking to sexually exploit children in nations where penalties or enforcement are lax — including prosecution in the home country of the accused. Those participants must travel to their home countries and lobby their legislatures to ratify the proposed legislation.

We all know that the internet is a powerful tool, in the click of a button I’ll send this post out to hundreds of thousands of readers. Every day we all sit there and can send our thoughts to just about anyone and anyone, and in that same moment that we; send forwards of jokes, search for lost friends, buy a new pair of jeans, look for a vacation or just read the news, millions of children are violated and abused.  Yes, in that same flash that you instant messaged your best friend about your date last night, an image of an abused child was sent across the world to be viewed by millions.

A pornographic image is not a onetime image of abuse, but every time that image is viewed that child is once again abused and violated. Once out in cyberspace that image is lost in the fast paced internet world, never to be fully recovered again. The issue of child porn is a sensitive one, for its victims are never allowed to escape their abusers, as their abuse continues indefinitely, once circulated.

While the persecution of pedophiles and the efforts of law enforcement have increased, so has the difficulty to catch these offenders and find their innocent victims. To prosecute on behalf of each and every child or image, one must prove the child is "real', and this is where the law and reality begin to shift apart. You may find 100 images on one person's computer, and there may be 80 different children involved, but in order to prosecute on behalf of each image and child you must find each child, and often use them for testimony. This is where law enforcement and reality seem to crash and burn, for the identities of most children may never be found, and even if some are found they may be scattered around the world, and therefore building a solid case is often marred by distance and economics.

The lack of funding has been the pitfall for many victims of child pornography. As law enforcement officials try to grapple with the increasingly quick spread of pornographic images, the victims of internet porn are getting younger and the images are increasingly more violent.

However on September 24th, the United States Congress passed the PROTECT Our Children Act, (H.R. 3845/S. 1738). What does this mean?

- Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.

- Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.

- Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.

While the new US act will clearly aid in the detection and prosecution of those involved in the use of child pornography, it will not truly aid those millions of children who are left to deal with the idea of their image in cyberspace for the remainder of their life.

Most Afghan women prisoners jailed for being victims of rape
Two-thirds of women imprisoned in Afghanistan were jailed for illegal sexual relations, a category that includes infidelity and premarital sex but also punishes the victims of rape.  A newly formed consultant council, the Women and Children's Justice Shura, hopes to draw attention to their plight while Western agencies are trying to improve conditions at the facilities where these women are jailed.

Russian Judge Rules to Allow Sexual Harassment
After a Russian woman lost her sexual harasment case after a judge ruled employers were obliged to make passes at female staff to ensure the survival of the human race. The judge stated that ”If we had no sexual harassment we would have no children,” the judge ruled. According to a recent survey, 100% of female professionals said they had been subjected to sexual harassment by their bosses, 32 percent said they had had intercourse with them at least once and another seven percent claimed to have been raped.

Rubber out-growers intensify campaign against child labour
The President of the Rubber Out-growers and Agents Association of Ghana (ROAA), Nana Asaa Kofi (III), has called on members of the Association, to adhere to the crusade against child labor in the rubber growing areas of the country.

UK pedophile was “librarian” for global abuse ring
A pedophile who acted as a “librarian” for a global Internet child abuse ring was jailed on Monday after one of the biggest undercover police investigations into online abuse in Britain. Unemployed Philip Thompson, 27, amassed nearly a quarter of a million indecent pictures of children, including thousands in the two most serious categories.

Palestinian refugees to benefit from nutrition programme
Difficult economic conditions triggered by high fuel prices have prompted the Jordanian authorities to extend their US$5 million school nutrition programme to include Palestinian refugees in schools run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA). The academic year, which starts on 17 August, will see about 70,000 students from 13 refugee camps benefit from the initiative, which provides students with a daily mid-morning snack containing essential vitamins that most of the children lack.

Many children still miss out on treatment
Experience has shown that it is possible to run successful paediatric HIV programmes in rural African settings, yet less than 10% of patients on life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are children, field officers of the international medical NGO, Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), have said. “Studies show that without treatment, 50 percent of children with HIV will die within the first two years of their lives,” Fernando Parreno, who has worked for MSF's ARV programme in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, said at the recent International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. “It is imperative that all children are diagnosed and started on treatment as early as possible after diagnosis, or too many children will continue to die.”

The film Very Young Girls takes you into the reality of sexual exploitation and trafficking of American girls, a true eye opener that is a must see for anyone who wants to see that Americas youth are given their chance at the American dream. Our eyes must be opened to the exploitation of our own youth if we are to be the world leaders in the abolishment of all forms of exploitation and trafficking/modern day slavery. To reinstate this need last week a screening of VeryYoung Girls was supported by the US State Department, and Ambassador Mark Lagon was on hand with Rachel Loyd the founder and Director of New York City based GEMS, to stress the need and reality of this problem.

Rachel Loyd and the GEMS staff don't beat around the bush, they know the realities of the streets, and they know each day is a battle so they waist no time. The documentary is straight shooting and raw, just like the realities of a childhood as a victim on the streets, the film footage does not give you a rosy view of the life of the girls trying to brake the chains of exploitation. There is no easy fix, no quick way out of years of mental, physical and sexual abuse on the streets. As Rachel says in the film;

"There is no detox, no methadone. You hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

Rachel Loyd is a true modern day hero, fighting for the young girls all too many have forgotten, she has given her heart, soul and life to these girls. She knows these girls, she has been these girls! A true survivor Loyd used her strength and experiences to establish GEMS (Girls Education & Mentoring Services), the halfway house in New York City she founded after she herself escaped from prostitution.

Loyd stands strong in the face of endless adversity and takes each girls daily struggle onto her own shoulders, giving each girl the true love and attention that they so desperately need and rightfully deserve. I had the opportunity to speak with Rachel after the film and while she is nothing more than personable it is not her heart that captivates you, it is her infectious strength. Rachel is an everyday woman with fighting spirit and endless heart that has inspired so many into action, but more importantly she is the rock for very young girls not only in NYC, but across the globe. There is hope and there is a normal life waiting for so many young girls and this film hopes to inspire those young and old.

Following the screening Mark Lagon asked Rachel Loyd;

"What do you think we should be doing nationally?"

Rachel stressed the need to see the problem for what it really is and punish those who are responsible while helping to heal the victims;

"Recognizing it as something that is done to themRecognize it as child sexual abuse…Change the dialog and quit putting responsibility on young people and put it on the adults and those who facilitate these crimes.”

Very Young Girls is not a film, it is the reality of some 100,000 and 3 million minors involved in prostitution every year in the United States (Department of Justice estimates). No longer can we look at these girls as criminals, but we must see them for what they are victims and treat them as such, so that they may become survivors. Please see GEMS to learn more about the program, and how you can support Rachel and all the very young girls who have been victimized by sex trafficking in the United States.

Quarter of kids don't meet vaccine schedule, as more than a quarter of American children do not meet the U.S. government's recommendations for childhood vaccinations, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers.

Viral outbreak hits China province, as the deaths of 19 children and the infection of more than 900 people with enterovirus 71, which can cause hand, foot and mouth disease, have panicked residents of China's Anhui province and pushed authorities to set up a daily reporting mechanism to track the virus’ spread. World Health Organization officials are urging parents to keep their children away from public places until the outbreak subsides.

Cambodian school food program faces suspension as the continual rise in global food prices are now endangering a World Food Program initiative supplying free breakfast to 450,000 Cambodian children at more than 1,300 schools across the country. In just under a month, the schools’ rice stocks will be gone and the breakfast program suspended indefinitely.

Radiohead song to raise awareness on human rights Pioneering rock band Radiohead has lent its song “All I Need” to an MTV campaign to raise awareness about sweatshop labor and human trafficking. The move builds on the British band's previous efforts to highlight slave labor and environmental issues.

UNICEF: Climate change mainly hits poor children, according to UNICEF warned in a new report. Problems such as floods, droughts and malaria, which experts say are worsening because of global warming, already are taking a big toll on children in developing nations, the UN agency says.

…it's afterimage imprints itself like an irreversible negative from the camera obscura of dreams.” -Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides

The rape of anyone is one of the most atrocious crimes that can be committed against a person, especially a child.

The ever increasing use of rape as a weapon of war not only impacts the victim, but their family, community and entire nations. Thus rape effects our entire global community, it shapes our future. Victims are sentenced to a life of shame, silence and fear. Mothers are forced to live in guilt, traumatized by the faces of their own children. Children's lives are forever changed and molded from the violence of rape, as victims, witnesses and products of rape. Children who feel inevitable guilt over their mothers suffering, their own reason for being.

Rape is not only a crime…it is a crime against humanity. Rape murders ones soul and paralyzes their future.

For the millions upon millions, many children, who are the survivors of sexual violence, one must not forget their struggles in this month of awareness, as their battle is never ending. Therefore in conjunction with April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I wanted to share these words of survival from Nancy Venable Raine, After Silence, Rape and my Journey Back.

I was not only a survivor, but a witness to my own survival. I saw, too, that however painful my feelings of the past year had been, the pain had not, after all, replaced other feelings, but only hidden them from sight. For traumatic experiences, "forgetting" is impossible, yet remembering is the last thing you want to do. I learned that some redemption can come from even the deepest of losses. The victims of rape must carry their memories with them for the rest of their lives. They must not also carry the burden of silence and shame.

Shame and fear leads many victims, especially children to a life of silence, but we must brake the silence on such brutal crimes. As an international society we must not sit idly back and allow such acts to continue. The world is full of armed conflicts and in these conflicts the use of rape as a weapon of war continues, yet the victims live in fear of persecution, they are ostracized by their own families and communities, and healthcare and support systems are far and few in between. Thus as a global community we must take action to see that victims are allowed to become survivors and that they no longer have to live in shame and silence. So let us listen…let us here! The following passage from Charlotte Pierce-Baker's, Surviving the Silence, illustrates how braking the silence is a major step in healing the wounds of sexual violence.

Still I weep for what I cannot change. Healing is a continuous process. Rape affects all aspect of one's life and being and one has to work continuously to become whole and intact. Pieces of myself are coming slowly together. I am different, but I accept that. The way out is to tell: Speak of the acts perpetrated upon us, speak the atrocities, speak the injustices, speak the personal violations of the soul. Someone will listen, someone will believe our stories, someone will join us.

"Street children…are prey to anything and they know things children should not." - Nevine is 18, has lived on Cairo's streets for 4 years (Still dreaming of a better future : a Cairo street girl recounts her traumatic experiences).

The issue of street children is nothing new on the international children's right radar, however in Egypt the issue has only become more substantial in recent years. There is estimated to be some one million street children in Egypt, many of whom have left rural areas to look for work in the city, or who are looking to escape abusive homes. Once on the street, children find themselves working shining shoes, collecting rubbish, begging, cleaning and directing cars into parking spaces, and selling food and trinkets, in order to survive. Children living on the streets are more pron to violence, more susceptible to disease and malnutrition, and are prime victims for traffickers and pedophiles.

According to UNICEF, the results of a study in 2000, showed 86% of street children stated violence was a regular issue, while another survey showed 50% had been exposed in some manner to rape (Egyptian Street children: issues and impact -UNICEF).

I have come across a few videos this past week, which I think you will find both very interesting and heartbreaking.

Living in a cemetery (IRIN video) - Near one million poor people live in "the City of the Dead', one of Egypt's largest cemeteries, located on the outskirts of the capital, Cairo. Many of the residents are families with children.

Girls forced to sleep rough in Cairo (IRIN video) - 10-year-old Sayyida, has been living on the streets of Cairo for at least two years, this video shows many of the battles she faces nightly on the dangerous city streets.

Links and Articles:
Egypt: Street children and substance abuse
Human Rights Watch - Egypt
Hope for Street Children