Context: In a global compilation of reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) found online, India stands on top of the list, with 11.7% of the total reports.
Key Points

• India stands right on top of the list, with 11.7% of the total reports or at 19.87 lakh reports, followed by Pakistan, which contributes 6.8% of all reports (11.5 lakh reports).
• Bangladesh comes in fourth with 5.5 lakh reports and a share of 3.3%.
• This year the Centre received a total of 1.68 crore reports.
• Three of the top four countries were in South Asia, raising concerns among child rights activists about the online safety of children in the region.
• The National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) adds that the reports include geographic indicators related to the upload location of the child sexual abuse material, but country specific numbers may be impacted by proxies and anonymisers.
• There is also concern that the lockdowns across the world will lead to an exacerbation of the situation.
• The NCMEC urges people to report CSAM found online across the world annually, on their online platform CyberTipline.

About National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)

• It is a private, non-profit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress.
• It handles cases of missing or exploited children from infancy to young adults through age 20.
• It operates the CyberTipline which was established by Congress to process reports of child sexual exploitation (including child pornography, online enticement, and contact offenses).
• It reviews these reports and shares them with the appropriate law enforcement agency or Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.

About Child Sexual Abuse material (CSAM)

• CSAM, also known as Child Pornography, refers to any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of the child for primarily sexual purposes.
• CSAM depicts children of all ages, boys and girls and differs in level of severity of the abuse ranging from children posing to gross assault.

Criminal Offenses

• Gaining access to or procuring;
• (Mere) possessing;
• Sharing or distributing;
• Selling;
• Producing SCAM.

Legal Frameworks

CSAM is (partly) criminalized by the following legal frameworks:

• CRC-OPSC: excludes accessing CSAM, mere possession and virtual scam.
• Budapest Convention: comprehensive including the criminalisation of virtual CSAM.
• Lanzarote Convention: Comprehensive including the criminalisation of virtual CSAM.
• ILO Convention 182: only covers production of CSAM.
• AU Cybercrime Convention: Comprehensive including the criminalisation of virtual CSAM.It is not in force.

About Child Abuse in India 

• Child Abuse can be defined as any act, failure or negligence on the part of any individual; adult or child, that leads to a severe threat to the life and development of a child and results in prolonged physical and psycho-social impacts on his/her health and wellbeing.

Relevant Constitutional Provisions

• The life-cycle of a child revolves around four main objectives, Vis a Vis survival, development, protection and participation. There are multiple provisions in the Indian Constitution that impose the primary responsibility on the state to promote the welfare of
• children and ensure their dignity and sustainability.

Fundamental Rights

• Article 14 of the Indian Constitution ensures that every citizen – man, woman and child is equal in the realm of law.
• Article 15 of the constitution provides for prohibition of discrimination and along with that it
• empowers the state to make special provisions for women and children.
• Article 21A makes it mandatory for the state to provide free and compulsory education to children in the 6-14 age group.
• Article 23 prohibits trafficking of Human beings and forced labour.
• Article 24 prohibits Child Labour and the employment of children below 14 years of age in factories, mines or other hazardous work environments.

Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)

• Article 39(e) of the constitution enjoins the State to ensure that the health and strength of workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused.
• Article 39(f) directs the State to ensure that children are provided with opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner It directs the State to ensure that children develop in a free and dignified environment and that their childhood and youth is protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
• Article 45 provides for the State’s duty to ensure early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.

Legal Reforms

• Efforts should be made by the governments to strengthen the economic conditions of the families and of the country as poverty is seen as one of the major causes of child abuse.
• Sexual Education should be made mandatory in schools and curriculums should include such programmes in the primary sections as well.
• Institutions such as the NCPCR should improve their reach and work towards ground level implementation of policies.
• The laws against child labour are not properly implemented. Child labour and child beggary is highly prevalent in India across states. Laws for developing educational institutions and for abolishing child labour should be strengthened and effectively executed.
• Grievance redressal systems should be installed in schools and colleges such as suggestions and complaints boxes for the speedy solution to the issues of children.
• Students clubs should be developed by the government across private and governmental schools to spread awareness against child abuse, about the policies of the government and the POCSO Act 2012.
• Police and administrative bodies should be easily accessible to children and should develop mechanisms to conduct workshops for children at the local levels.