NHRC to hold conference on child sexual abuse material on Mar 2-3, Rijiju to attend

The NHRC said that the production, transmission, and consumption of child sexual abuse material has triggered demand for new and more egregious content. This has perpetuated the sexual abuse of new children in addition to the continued molestation of child victims.

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission will host a national conference on child sexual abuse material on March 2 and 3, with Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju slated to be the chief guest at the event, officials said on Tuesday. The aim of the conference is to derive recommendations for policymakers, and content hosts, including social media platforms and law enforcement agencies among others, after deliberations to advocate safe cyberspace for children.

"The production, transmission, and consumption of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) trigger further demand for new and more egregious content, thereby perpetuating the sexual abuse of new children in addition to the continued molestation of child victims," the NHRC said in a statement. "This may have irreparable psychological damage on children, impacting their growth and development," it said.

Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju will inaugurate the conference at the Vigyan Bhawan here in the presence of NHRC Chairperson justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra, rights panel members besides senior officers of the ministries concerned, legal experts, academicians, and scholars, it said. The Commission said it has been concerned with the ill-effects of online child sexual abuse material and has been organising dialogues from time to time in the recent past to come out with ways and means to check this menace.

On July 21, 2020, the NHRC had organised an online national conference on the subject with valuable inputs from international organisations, government ministries, law enforcement agencies and parents' associations among others, officials said. "The Commission also issued two 'Human Rights Advisory for the Protection of the Rights of Children in the context of COVID-19' dated September 29, 2020 and June 2, 2021, respectively, wherein it made recommendations to the concerned authorities regarding cybercrime and online safety of children," the statement said.

These pertained to using the cybercrime reporting portal and PRAGYATA Guidelines for Digital Education. As a precursor to the upcoming conference, a 'Discussion on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)' was held on November 4, 2022, wherein various domain experts brainstormed on the nature, extent, and different manifestations of the issue of CSAM, it added.

The discussions will revolve around five themes, including understanding the nature, extent, and emerging Issues; Legal provisions relating to CSAM; the role of technology and intermediaries in the prevention, detection, and investigation of CSAM; international trends in fighting CSAM and the role of enforcement agencies and cyber forensics in detection, investigation and monitoring of CSAM, the statement said. (PTI)