Online Child Sexual Exploitation
Date: 10/08/2020
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Branch/Agency: CSCCB
Proposed Response:
- The Government takes a comprehensive and coordinated approach to protecting children from online sexual exploitation.
- Public Safety Canada has led the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet since 2004 and partners with the RCMP, Justice Canada and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, or C3P.
- Budget 2019 included new investments of $22.24 million over three years to support Public Safety Canada’s efforts to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with reporting, increase Canada’s ability to pursue and prosecute offenders, and work with digital industry to combat this crime
- These complement ongoing investments that Public Safety administers along with other government departments such as the RCMP and Justice Canada
Financial Implications:
- The 2020-21 Main Estimates included vote appropriations for Public Safety of $8.68 million to better protect children from sexual exploitation online, $1,017,000 to implement the Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, and $1,900,000 dedicated towards countering online child sexual exploitation under the Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime.
- Public Safety Canada will continue to implement Budget 2019 initiatives and support C3P to manage both Cybertip.ca, the national tip-line for suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation, and “Project Arachnid”, a web-crawling tool to identify child sexual abuse material online.
Background:
Online child sexual exploitation is one of the digital age’s most pressing safety issues and it continues to increase in terms of scope, reach and impacts. The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous crime and serious concern for the Government of Canada, law enforcement agencies, and partners in other orders of government and internationally.
The National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (National Strategy) was launched in April 2004 and renewed on an ongoing basis in 2009. Public Safety Canada (PS) is the lead for the National Strategy and partners with the RCMP, Justice Canada (JUS) and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P), a not-for-profit organization.
The Strategy aims to:
- Coordinate and oversee federal efforts to combat online child sexual exploitation;
- Support law enforcement capacity to combat online child sexual exploitation;
- Enable the reporting of online child sexual exploitation to proper authorities;
- Support victims of online child sexual exploitation by facilitating the removal of imagery/videos;
- Facilitate research on online child sexual exploitation to increase understanding of the scale/scope of the issue and inform action;
- Increase public awareness and reduce the stigma associated with reporting; and
- Work with digital industry to find new ways of combating this crime.
PS coordinates and oversees the implementation of the National Strategy and leads the development of online child sexual exploitation policy.
Public Safety provides contribution funding to C3P to operate Cybertip.ca, the national tip-line, and for Project Arachnid, a web-crawling technology solution to identify and increase the rate of removal of child sexual abuse material.
The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre is the national law enforcement arm of the National Strategy. It is the central point of contact for investigations related to the online sexual exploitation of children across the country and internationally when the victim or offender is Canadian.
Justice Canada reviews and develops legislation, and provides training, advice and support to federal partners and others.
Recent investments of $22.24 million over three years, starting in 2019–20, support Public Safety Canada’s enhanced efforts to raise awareness of this serious issue and reduce the stigma associated with reporting, increase Canada’s ability to pursue and prosecute offenders, and work with industry to find new ways to combat the sexual exploitation of children online.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Mathilde Brière-Audet, Senior Policy Advisor, 613-302-3277
Approved by: Trevor Bhupsingh, A/ADM CSCCB
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