Africa-Press – Uganda. Children under the age of 10 are increasingly being targeted by paedophiles, according to a recent report from an online watchdog tasked with tracking and removing child sexual abuse content from the Internet.
While the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) report does not specifically mention data from Uganda, it notes that more than 90 percent of the imagery of child sexual abuse that is available online is currently self-generated.
IWF says it found self-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on 275,655 webpages last year that featured children under the age of 10, an increase of eight percent.
Susie Hargreaves, the chief executive officer of IWF, stated that while more imagery is being found and eliminated, this is not necessarily a bad thing because part of the spike could be explained by improved detection.
According to the IWF, children as young as three years old produced some of the self-generated imagery, and a fifth was found to contain “category A” harm. This refers to the most severe forms of sexual abuse.
“The imagery extorted or coerced from primary school-aged children is now finding its way onto the most extreme, dedicated child sexual abuse sites in shocking numbers,” said Ms Hargreaves.
Uganda has a high prevalence of child sexual abuse, with 59 percent of women reporting having experienced it as a child per an Afrobarometer survey on gender-based violence that was published in June 2023.
“National data also show that 33 percent of girls below the age of 15 years were forced at first sex,” it revealed, adding that the government and partners have put in place mechanisms to improve the reporting and handling of gender-based violence crimes, including Uganda Police Force units and training devoted to child, family protection and sexual offences.
This publication was last week at Ekisakaate—an annual cultural training camp organised by Buganda Queen Sylvia Nagginda—and observed that the teachers training these youth and children are aware of this vice and have focused their efforts on helping them develop with integrity.
The youth in this camp, who totalled more than 400, aged between six and 16 years, were instructed to write anonymous letters describing their experiences at home.
One girl wrote that she endured being raped by a teacher at school and she detested the school until she finished her O-Level exams the previous year. She struggled with the ordeal without her parents knowing.
In another incident, the police on Thursday said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that it was holding a 40-year-old teacher at a school in Mityana. The man is accused of trying to defile a 15-year-old girl at the same school. The arrest transpired as a result of a complaint filed by the 15-year-old student’s guardian.
Mr Andrew Adrian Mukiibi, the executive director of the Nabagereka Foundation, which is responsible for organising the aforementioned royal cultural camp, said many parents are away from home for extended periods of time. This, he added, leaves a void in the lives of children and youth that is not addressed by families or schools.
“This is even one of the reasons many parents reached out to the Nabagereka, requesting something that will help them nurture their children,” he elaborated.
Every year, this youth training camp develops a theme based on the social needs that need to be addressed. This year’s theme is: “In the pursuit of generosity and humaneness towards others in the community.”
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