Africa-Press – Zambia. The Katete District Child Protection Committee (DCPC) has expressed displeasure at the escalating habit of circulating videos and images depicting children in vulnerable and defenseless situations on social media.
Katete District Social Welfare Officer Joyce Msoni has stated that children have the right to integrity and respect which should be protected. Ms. Msoni noted people in the habit of circulating images of children without the consent of their parents are infringing on the rights of these children.
ZANIS reports that Articles 3 and 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which Zambia assented to in 1990 and ratified in 1991 states that human actions should be in the best interest of the child and that children have the right to privacy, honor, and reputation respectively.
Ms. Msoni lamented that such videos and images leave a lasting social and psychological impact on the children with potential negative effects on their future. She has called on the public to condemn this vice so as to protect the well-being of children.
“We have noted as a child protection committee that there is an increase in circulating recorded videos and images of children in various vulnerable states without due consideration to the effect of such actions on the children,” she said.
She fears that if this is not curtailed, more and more children will become victims of the vice and that such actions may come to haunt the children in the future.
“I know it is very interesting when it is not your children’s images being circulated on social media but when it comes to our children, I know we will do anything to protect their images. So let us desist from it, let us protect their integrity and image, let us stop the cyberbullying of children,” Ms. Msoni said.
She added that as children grow, they learn and explore and they come across different situations and make certain mistakes which they would not do if they were adults.
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