Work Against Sexual Abuse of Children

Save the Children Denmark‟s work against sexual abuse of children

Annual report 2009

1 www.redbarnet.dk

Barriers and obstacles

Sexual abuse of children has long been Save the Children‟s longstanding work on re- shrouded in numerous myths, prejudices and porting IT-related assaults against children, demonisations, which distort the real picture safeguarding children‟s online lives and combat- of victims as well as perpetrators. Through- ing abuse generally, has earned the team a spe- out 2009, strongly worded declarations of cial status in its field, giving rise to a high de- politicians and scare-stories in the media have mand for our expertise in these contexts. For once again made it a challenge to convey nu- example, we are often consulted about risks to ances and factual knowledge, whenever sex children in online platforms such as World of offenders and sexual abuse of children have Warcraft, Arto and Messenger, while teachers been on the agenda. and other professional educators from schools, preschools and after-school centres request our Plentiful and powerful emotions are quickly guidelines. In the course of the year, the team brought into play, and at times exert intense has also taught or delivered talks at various na- pressure on Save the Children Denmark‟s tional and international courses and confer- team involved in efforts against sexual abuse. ences.

Break the circle Inspired by some of our international part- into obscurity. Save the Children intends to ners in countries such as England and Ger- follow up on this in 2010. many, among others, Save the Children Denmark has, since 2009, developed the website brydcirklen.dk (“break the circle”, .dk for Denmark) in cooperation with the Na- tional Hospital‟s Clinic of Sexology and the Janus Centre. The purpose is to let those with sexual fantasies about children know where to seek help, aiming to ensure that such thoughts are not acted upon. Accord- ingly, the initiative should be conceived as early prevention of sex offences against children. Unfortunately, funds have yet to be obtained towards a more extensive campaign to highlight the issue, so the website has begun, shortly after it launch, to fade

Save the Children has entered into cooperation with Netclean, which offers software capable of identifying illegal child pornography on corporate IT networks. Netclean has been installed on Save the Children‟s www.netclean.com own network.

Internet hotline For more than 10 years, Danish citizens have The work to receive and process the citizens‟ re- been able to report illegal child-pornographic ports adheres to standard procedures according to material to Save the Children. In 2001, a grant common precepts issued by INHOPE and ap- from the European Commission and Ministry proved by the Danish National Police. The illegal- of Social Affairs enabled a professionalisation ity of each picture and video clip is assessed. If of the internet-based Hotline. The effort has Save the Children is able to track down the stor- been advancing in close cooperation with the age of illegal material to a particular server in one Danish National Police, large internet providers of our 30 countries of cooperation, the informa- in Denmark, and INHOPE (EU-supported tion is passed on to the partner in that country. association of hotlines from all over the world, Information about illegal material in other coun- see www.inhope.org). tries is forwarded to the Danish National Police, who dispatch it to Interpol. It is the National Po- Save the Children‟s effort against sexual lice‟s High Tech Crime Center (NITEC) which abuse of children – including a special focus coordinates efforts related to Danish affairs. on IT-related problems – is undertaken by a professional team of four staff members. As part of the cooperation with the National Po- lice, Save the Children has provided training for newly appointed IT coordinators in all 12 recently formed Danish police districts, and has – through the Danish Court Administration (Domstolsstyrelsen) – taught judges about children‟s online lives and IT-related assaults. Save the Children takes an active part in INHOPE‟s meet- ings, and has participated in the testing and adap- tation of a new shared database due to come into use in 2010. Almost 5000 reports In 2009, Save the Children‟s hotline re- illegal contents which were previously un- ceived 4849 reports, where the informer known to us. This amounts to 607 new ille- believed to have found illegal pictures of gal websites in 2009, or 12 a week. We note sexual abuse of children and young people. with concern the proliferation of websites which can be linked to the massive and ag- Although many pictures may seem objec- gressive marketing of visuals of child sex tionable or be accompanied by words such abuse. as “teen sex” or “family incest”, it is not always certain that the persons photo- Webhosts in the USA and Russia remain the graphed are under 18 years of age. clear preference when individuals or firms want to publish sites with illegal contents. Moreover, we often receive several denun- However, other eastern and Central Euro- ciations of the same website. Upon close pean countries have begun to enter the scrutiny, Save the Children estimated that arena, just as servers in Asian countries have 12.5% of the reports were of websites with also started to host unlawful material.

Blocking websites with child abuse pictures

Information on all new websites with illegal the fact that some of the blocked sites have contents is sent to the database of the Na- ceased to exist after being placed on the list. tional Police to enter them into the Danish According to Danish police statistics, every day filter scheme that blocks child pornographic thousands of unique IP addresses try to gain websites located outside Denmark. access to these blocked websites. So there is still a great need for getting information about The number of blocked sites is growing online safety to internet users, and about the steadily, reaching more than 9,000 at the end consequences of searching and distributing of 2009. This figure does not take account of child pornography to offenders.

Cartoons and animations of abuse A previous amendment to the penal code cific victims. Such pictures express a person‟s regarding “obscene photographs or moving fantasies and imagination, and prohibition pictures” (i.e. child pornography) added the would mean criminalizing fabrications of the designation “other obscene visual representa- mind expressed in drawings. It is not criminal tion or the like of persons under 18 years of to be a paedophile (in the sense of having sex- age.” ual thoughts about children), but it is to commit sexual abuse. In this manner, as set out in the comments to the law, fictional images are included “in the Save the Children ethically and morally con- case of realistic visual depiction that appears demns all forms of materials (whether in writ- as or approximates to photographs etc.” ing, drawings, pictures or fictionalised ac- Paintings, hand drawings and the like, which counts), which glorify or otherwise portray sex- do not assume a form identical to real-life ual abuse and offences directed against children visuals, fall outside the definition of illegal in a positive light. At the same time, Save the material. Children does not find criminal law to be a useful instrument in the regulation of thoughts Put another way, if subjects featured in pic- and fantasies, when these are expressed in texts tures of sexual exploitation of children are or drawings. hardly distinguishable from real persons, it is illegal, whereas materials clearly presented as Save the Children stands behind respect for the someone‟s fantasy or imagination is legal. human rights of the victim as well as the po- tential offender, hence perceiving it as prob- The debate over whether drawings of sexual lematic if these are disregarded for a select abuse of children and the like should be category of people because they draw their banned has been raging in the media thoughts and fantasies about punishable acts throughout 2009. A point in favour of prohi- (sex with children), while everyone else is al- bition is that fictional materials can inspire lowed to draw their thoughts and fantasies real assaults. The counterargument is that, if about murder, rape, robbery etc. without any this is so, then everything else capable of in- curtailment of their freedom of expression. spiring criminal acts must also be outlawed. It Save the Children requests that tools other counts against a ban that such visuals do not than criminal law be applied in order to reduce harm real children (or any figures looking like the risk of adults sexually abusing children real children). Accordingly, there are no spe- (information, counselling, treatment, etc.).

Focus on victim identification In 2009, one of Save the Children‟s major SAFE and INHOPE, and targeted many of our areas of intervention was once again the at- partners. tempt to identify young victims of sexual assaults, including those captured in pictures of Furthermore, Save the Children Denmark co- abuse flourishing on the net. With partners operates with other European organisations of such as the European Commission, Interpol, the worldwide Save the Children Alliance, CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Pro- firstly, to push for children‟s perspectives and tection) and Europol, in 2009, we have fo- rights being considered in the EU‟s official cused on global strategies. Thus, in early documents, and secondly, to put the spotlight April, we delivered a talk at a major confer- on protection of children against violence and ence in Helsinki, which was convened by IN- abuse, particularly in relation to IT.

Advocacy in international settings Convention of the European Council Save the Children delivered a talk at the Inter- In 2007, the European Council passed a con- national Telecommunication Union‟s (ITU‟s) vention to protect children against sexual meeting in Japan in June 2009. Furthermore, abuse and exploitation, and the agreement Save the Children attended the World Summit was signed by the Danish Minister of Justice. on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva The European Council is planning a major organised by ITU, among others. Save the Chil- information campaign in the autumn of 2010 dren‟s contribution was a presentation of guide- focusing on the convention. Save the Chil- lines for children‟s online safety. dren Denmark‟s team attended ENACSO the European (European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online) C o u n c i l ‟ s ENACSO is a thematic network composed of “Meeting with 17 NGOs from Europe. It is supported by the Experts” in De- European Commission‟s Safer Internet Pro- cember 2009 gramme. Save the Children Denmark has been with a view to the driving force in establishing the network. Its organising the coordinator is a Save the Children Denmark campaign. employee, who also cooperates with our other

activities in this thematic field. The internet in the international arena Internet development is addressed on the ENACSO‟s purpose is to develop shared views world stage in a variety of forums. In a new and joint strategies in order to ensure that chil- move, the online safety of children has been dren‟s needs are taken into account in discus- placed on the agenda as part of the overall sions about interactive media, both in Europe prioritisation of the Internet Governance Fo- and in relevant international forums. Save the rum (IGF). Save the Children attended the Children has been active in drawing up IGF event held in India in 2008, and was both ENACSO‟s recommendations and policy pa- participant and co-organiser of the Danish pers, and has on several occasions represented IGF in 2009. Save the Children also took part in the international IGF in Egypt in 2009, the network at international conferences. contributing, for instance, by presenting ENACSO‟s Digital Manifesto.

sikkerinternet.dk (“safe internet” Denmark) is prevent illegal and unwanted contents from reach- the new shared portal for Danish partners of ing end users. Under the aegis of this EU-led the EU's Safer Internet Programme. joint undertaking, Save the Children is responsible The aim of this cooperation is to foster new for the hotline, Awareness Node Denmark online technologies and strengthen safety on (Medierådet for Børn og Unge) has a knowledge the web, particularly for children, as well as to centre, while Cyberhus runs a helpline.

Online safety: safe chat Save the Children alongside the Danish Crime Webcam Prevention Council runs the website There is a tendency, particularly among younger www.sikkerchat.dk (“safe chat” Denmark) about navigators of the vast internet universe, to lower safety on the internet and mobile phones. The site one‟s natural defences when showing and telling focuses particularly on preventing molestation and strangers about oneself online. Unfortunately, we bullying via interactive media, and it contains well- hear about more cases and receive an increasing targeted information materials for children, young number of approaches regarding minors who have people, parents as well as professionals. As part of been persuaded to pose in front of a webcam, sub- the moderator project, in 2009 a module for web sequently regretting their actions. Some discover that moderators has been added to the site. the webcam images are disseminated on the internet or used to blackmail them into further sexual degra- Children do not distinguish between dation. The problem may be the apparent safety of online and offline sitting alone in one‟s room, thus daring to transgress Being online has, on a series of fronts, acquired some intimate and private boundaries in front of a almost as much significance in the day-to-day lives „net friend‟, perhaps with a sense of knowing and of children and young people as the physical set- trusting the person at the other end, while forgetting tings which they inhabit. In the universe of mi- that the pictures can be broadcast across the world nors, friends are always just friends, and it is a side within seconds. issue whether they are offline friends from school and sports, or online friends from the net. In con- Communities on the internet trast, cyberspace and the tangible world are mark- Part of children‟s natural development is to form edly more separate in the minds of adults. communities with their peers. Here, together with other young people, they can try out multiple roles It is precisely this difference in how children and or new attitudes, thus clarifying their own identify as adults perceive the internet and its endless oppor- “neither adult nor child”. Accordingly, internet ven- tunities which sometimes produces misunder- ues are well-suited to act out this process, as can be standings. For instance, the mobile phone and the seen from the rising number of visitors to online internet continue to be referred to as “new tech- communities. (These are social networks or internet nologies” by the adults, whereas the young merely meeting places, where users are widely involved in see them as ways of talking. developing the website contents through their

6 profiles and communications. The best-known Upgrading moderator skills international example is facebook.com, while Moderators at the various internet meeting places for places like arto.dk and habbohotel.dk appeal to children do not go through any systematic instruction Danish teenagers.) or training. Consequently, Save the Children began, in cooperation with the websites concerned, to explore the However, the greater online presence has also ex- educational needs and design training modules. panded and diversified the risk of abuse. This may Towards the end of 2007, the Egmont Foundation consist of exchanges of assorted pictures and vid- funded the start-up of this project and, in 2009, gave eos, as new file-sharing facilities have made it easier further support by awarding a three-year grant. for offenders to swap material. There are those who publish pictures of assaults on children from within The first moderators have already been through the their own family, or the perpetrators can be interna- course, and the plan is to train about 75% of all mod- tional crime syndicates who make money from pic- erators in Denmark over the coming three years. The ture series or films depicting sexual exploitation of competencies gained by developing the teaching aids children. and course have added to the team‟s foundation of ex- perience and knowledge. Towards the end of 2009, Grooming Save the Children was frequently approached with re- Alas, internet meeting places are also where adults quests to conduct the course on a wider scale for web- with a sexual interest in children try to make con- sites in English as well as Danish. Accordingly, we will tact, often through a manipulative and alluring con- continue to work on this throughout 2010. duct known as „grooming‟. In brief, it is a process in which an offender, by showering positive attention Vulnerable children in foster families and approval on a child, manages to build a trustful Children placed outside their original homes, e.g. in relationship, which makes it hard for the child to foster families, can be particularly vulnerable to online refuse as the adult gradually demands sexual activi- grooming processes, because they often distrust their ties in exchange for the adult interest and closeness. closest care providers, making them more inclined to be Contacts starting in a chat room may lead to chil- taken in by the anonymous adult on the net who offers dren being persuaded to send pictures of them- his unconditional attention and approval from the out- selves, or handing out their phone number for the set. Save the Children has taught foster-family consult- process to carry on more covertly, possibly ending ants and foster parents in Copenhagen, Lyngby, up with a physical encounter. Grooming may also Ballerup, Roskilde and Aabenraa. Moreover, in the spring from chats at, for example, online gaming course of the year, we have given lessons at several sites. Indeed in 2009 we witnessed a new trend in Danish teacher training and social education colleges. grooming from being centred on social networking sites towards also taking place at major gaming Save the Children has provided professional support for sites, such as World of Warcraft. the initiative “Certified Kid”, which was launched in the summer of 2009. The project sets out to provide all Save the Children has provided professional sup- Danish children, through their schools, with a digital port for the initiative “Certified Kid”, which was certificate, which informs of the child‟s age and sex. launched in the summer of 2009. The project sets Accordingly, by looking at the other party‟s certificate, out to provide all Danish children, through their the child will know these basic personal details of those schools, with a digital certificate, which informs of they chat with, enabling them to see through adults who the child‟s age and sex. Accordingly, by looking at masquerade the other party‟s certificate, the child will know as children. these basic personal details of those they chat with, enabling them to see through adults who masquerade as children.

Child sex tourism In 2007, the Danish National Police called in conduct as regards sexual exploitation of children Save the Children to join a diverse work group in Thailand, Cambodia and Burma. In 2009, Save on the issue of “Danes who commit sexual as- the Children agreed with the Association of Tour saults abroad”. One of the group‟s aims was to Operators in Denmark and the National Police to carry out an information campaign on sex tour- expand cooperation on combating and informing ism, which was launched in January 2008. about sexual exploitation of children committed by Danes travelling abroad. Furthermore, with support from the Ministry of Unfortunately, efforts to fundraise for the cam- Foreign Affairs, in the spring of 2009, Save the paign did not succeed in 2009, but will continue in Children published a report on Danish citizens‟ 2010.

Save the Children goes to the movies … Save the Children‟s team against sexual abuse Moreover, the film company Zentropa has have been cast in the role of “reality consult- launched an information project about sexual ants” in the world of movies. When the fea- abuse in leisure and sports activities (a short ture film “Himlen Falder” (“The Sky Is Fal- film entitled “The Coach”), to which Save the ling”, based on a horrifying criminal case from Children‟s team has contributed expertise. Tønder, Denmark) was to be released on DVD, Save the Children had the opportunity to present the subject matter on the cover in- sert. In exchange, Save the Children shares in the proceeds from the sale of the DVDs. These funds will be spent on new information materials about sexual abuse of children. Finally, Save the Children participates in a multimedia project with Feldballe Film & TV and with the Danish Family Planning Associa- tion about young people‟s right to a sex life without compulsion or degradation. Both pro- ductions will be released in 2010.

Financing Through the Danish Ministry of Finance (an related kind. For this area of work, Save the allocation known as Satspuljen), Save the Chil- Children is also being financially supported by dren has been granted DKK 2 million (€ the European Commission‟s Safer Internet 270,000) a year in the period 2008-2010 for Programme. Finally, Save the Children has re- the effort against IT-related sexual abuse and ceived funds from the Egmont Foundation for similar offences. This follows previous grants a project, from local branches and private indi- from the same source since 2001, which have viduals, in addition to earning fees for teaching, enabled Save the Children to work more pur- consultancies and the like. posefully to collect and disseminate knowl- We wish to thank our backers for their valuable edge about sexual abuse, including the IT- support.

Run-down of activities in the course of 2009 7-8 January: Visit to Childnet and IWF in England to improve “best practice” against digital bullying and child pornography 20 January: Live chat at Habbo Hotel (web community) about digital bullying and grooming 10 February: Safe Internet Day (together with Danish Awareness Node and Cyberhus) 17 March: Teaching at the Annual Meeting of the SSP Council (see list of partners and networks) 18 March: Meeting with Minister of Justice about a national action plan against sexual abuse 25 March: Annual Meeting of the Danish Crime Prevention Council (stand with materials about sikkerchat.dk) 25 March: EkstraBladet (daily newspaper), Victor Prize 2009, rewarding articles about online child molesters 1-2 April: INSAFE/INHOPE Conference on Victim Identification in Helsinki 20 April: EU presidency conference about online child protection 21 April: Save the Children Norway – training regarding safe chat 27 April: ENACSO/NSPCC – conference in Brussels 18 May: Training of Aarhus Municipality employees about grooming 2 June: Training of judges about online grooming 2-3 June: ITU conference in Tokyo – guidelines for children and young people on the internet 12 June: EU Kids Online II, International Advisor in London 25 June: Launch of e-learning module of moderator training 2 October: Safer internet campaign – workshops for people from the SSP Council 5 October: Meeting with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Princess Anne of the UK 22-23 October: Safer Internet Programme, EU 25 November: Launch of brydcirklen.dk (“break the circle” Denmark), a website for adults with sexual thoughts and fantasies about children 2 December: Meeting with Members of the European Parliament about child protection in the EU (Lisbon Treaty)

Each picture of sexual abuse concerns a particular child, who becomes a victim marked for life

Co-funded by the European Union

Partners and networks 2009

National High Tech Crime Center (NITEC), Danish National Police

“ISP-kredsen”, representatives of Danish Internet providers (TDC, Telenor (Cybercity and Son- ofon), Telia, ITB, Teleindustrien and others)

SSP Council (overall body for Danish cooperation protocol between police, municipal social de- partments and schools) and the Danish Crime Prevention Council

SISO (research centre under the Danish Ministry of Social Welfare concerned with social inter- ventions regarding sexual abuse)

Association of Danish Interactive Media, FDIM, composed of internet providers and chat providers (Arto, DR, TV2, Sulake, Watagame, Netstationen, Jubii, Eniro, Egmont Foundation and others)

Research Network on Sexual Abuse (SISO, Sct. Stefan‟s Counselling Centre under the Munici- pality of Copenhagen, Institute of Psychology at University of Copenhagen, the National Hospi- tal‟s Centre for Sexually Abused Children, The JANUS Project, Danish Centre for Research on Social Vulnerability, National Hospital‟s Clinic of Sexology, National Institute of Public Health, and others)

Save the Children Europe Group (particularly Save the Children Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy and Spain)

European Commission‟s Safer Internet Programme (http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/index_en.htm)

INHOPE (International Association of Internet Hotlines), network of 31 civil hotlines (inhope.org)

INSAFE (European network of e-safety awareness nodes)

sikkerinternet.dk (“safe internet” Denmark)

Danish Awareness Node, Safer Internet Programme (Medierådet for Børn og Unge) (andk.medieraadet.dk) and Cyberhus (Danish helpline, Safer Internet Programme, cyberhus.dk) ENACSO (European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online)

Nordic Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NASPCAN, or NFBO in Scan- dinavian languages, see nfbo.com/english.htm)

AMOK – an interdisciplinary forum of anti-bullying consultants

National IT and Telecom Agency (under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation)

Certified Kid

Danish Association of Youth Clubs (Ungdomsringen, www.ungdomsringen.dk)

Children‟s Welfare in Denmark (Børns Vilkår, www.bvdk.dk)

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