Fiji strengthens the fight against digital child abuse – FBC News

The growing problem of online pornography and child sexual abuse material is worrying.

This has caused an urgent action of the government and key stakeholders.

The National Working Group Against Pornography (NTAP) recently met to discuss and advance strategies aimed at stopping these digital threats to women’s safety, children and families.

Co -president by the Minister of Women, Children and Social Protection Sashi Kiran and the Vice Prime Minister Manaa Kamikamica, the meeting underlined the continuous progress made to address these critical problems.

A central approach to the meeting was the alignment of Fiji with international efforts to combat child exploitation, with Naomi Trewinnard of the Secretariat of the Convention of Lanzarote that presented themselves on the potential benefits of the Lanzi Convention for Fiji.

This international framework, whose objective is to strengthen child protection systems worldwide, offers valuable tools to improve its national child protection strategies and respond more effectively to cases of child exploitation.

Capacity development also appeared prominently on the agenda.

The special agent Jeremy Clark of the United States Embassy provided information on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), sharing global data and trends on child exploitation.

Clark declared the importance of international cooperation to address these crimes and pointed out that NCMEC had trained 15 Fiji police investigators in advanced case management tools to strengthen local application efforts.

The meeting also received important contributions from regional partners, with the Australian high commissioner Clair Mcnamara discussing Australia strategies to address online pornography and regional efforts to protect vulnerable populations.

McNamara pointed out the need for a coordinated approach to combat gender violence facilitated by technology, which continues to affect communities throughout the Pacific.

Fiji’s commitment to this struggle was further reinforced through the updates of local leaders, including director Tagiveoua’s director of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection, the zeal of the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji Prit Chand and Commissioner of the online Security Commission Filipe Batiwale.

These updates detail the current national initiatives and the role of multisectoral collaboration to address the generalized issue of online pornography.

The NTAP meeting reaffirmed the urgency of addressing online pornography and child exploitation as key priorities for the government.