2023_PS_GHWB-11

2023 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements

Good Health and Well Being

Problem #11: Create a Child-friendly Protection System for Safe Access and Use of the Digital Environment

Country/Region of execution:  Mexico

Collaborating Organization:  ChildFund International

ChildFund International works throughout Asia, Africa, and the Americas to connect children with the people, resources, and institutions they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled, and safe. Our programs address the underlying conditions that prevent children and youth from achieving their full potential and, in 2021, reached 16.3 million children and family members.
 
ChildFund is a growing leader in the prevention of online sexual exploitation and abuse of children (OSEAC), a priority issue in our ten-year strategy (2021-2030). ChildFund Mexico forms part of the Federal government’s inter-institutional group to guarantee safe access to Information and Communication Technologies and Communication Media, supporting the country’s response to OSEAC, and recently contributed to developing a national curriculum on "Risks for children in the digital ecosystem."1
 
ChildFund Mexico is part of the ALUMBRA Community, comprising NGOs and telecommunications companies promoting the prevention of child sexual abuse in the digital environment.
 

Problem Statement Description:  Online sexual exploitation and abuse of children (OSEAC) can include the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), online grooming, live-streaming of abusive acts, and sextortion. OSEAC was exacerbated by COVID-19-related shutdowns, as children spent more time online for education, entertainment, and socializing, often without adequate supervision.

Globally, Mexico ranks first in the production and distribution of CSAM and second in child sexual abuse after Thailand, according to data from OECD, 2019. Mexican law enforcement received 786,215 CSAM reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 20212.   During the same period, cybercrimes committed against children increased by 157%, according to a report from the National Guard, which also indicates that 26% of people surveyed did not know which the competent authority to report cybersecurity issues too, and only 4% of those surveyed whose children had a negative experience online reported it to the authorities3.

A recent ECPAT International and WeProtect Global Alliance survey found that young survivors of OSEAC did not trust that service providers would take their reports seriously.4

ChildFund Mexico has developed a strategy combining programmatic intervention and advocacy to mitigate the risk of OSEAC in the country. ChildFund Mexico has also worked with federal institutions to identify ways to strengthen the reporting system. There is a promising option - a mobile hotline application, PfCiber, developed by the Mexican Center for Electronic Crimes against Minors (CENADEM) to build public awareness and facilitate increased reporting of suspected cases of OSEAC. However, the application needs to be updated and more user-friendly. To increase the public’s use of the app and make child victims feel more comfortable using it to report, the app needs to be more child-friendly, engaging, trauma-informed, and victim-centered.

The challenge consists of the need to find technological solutions that are highly evolved and innovative but at the same time accessible and adapted to users with limited connectivity and their own simple devices that do not support heavy applications that consume a lot of data.

Ending OSEAC falls under SDG 16 and specifically Target 16.2, which calls for the end of abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children.

 
 
1 available on https://aprende.gob.mx/#  
2 https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/2021-reports-by-country.pdf
3 Study on Cybersecurity in Companies, Internet users and Parents in Mexico, 2021, by Asociación de Internet Mx. / ESTUDIO SOBRE CIBERSEGURIDAD EN EMPRESAS, USUARIOS DE INTERNET Y PADRES DE FAMILIA EN MÉXICO 2021
4 https://ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/20-11-2021_Mexico_National-Report_EN_FINAL.pdf