Need global pact against child porn: Satyarthi

NEW DELHI: Demanding a strong legislation to crack down on online child pornography, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Thursday drove home the need for an international treaty to fight the crime. Satyarthi said that last month he discussed the issue with many heads of countries at the UN general assembly and has already started working on an international treaty against online child pornography.

He shared his concerns during his speech as the chief guest at the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s foundation day programme in Nagpur. “Some months ago, a 12-year-old boy ,upon finding his sister all alone, gang raped her along with his friends. These boys had watched porn film the night before this incident. The business of online pornographic films is flourishing unabated. I have been incessantly demanding for a strong legislation against this crime,” Satyarthi said.

Satyarthi cited data to point that eight children go missing every hour in India, four children are sexually abused and two are raped. “Our women grapple with fear, threat and insecurity at home, workplace, localities and public places. Those who are entrusted with the responsibility of running shelter homes for girls are raping and murdering them. So called custodians of child welfare and protection are selling children,” Satyarthi added. He went on to say that “silence of the society succumbing in front of crime and injustice is not merely cowardice but quite violent in itself.”

“I invoke the youth of India. Instead of copying and chasing the shadow of others, recognise your innate cultural strength and derive self-respect from it. Let us all take a pledge for building a compassionate, inclusive, secure, self-reliant and self-respecting India,” he added.

Satyarthi said that if the youth associated with the branches of the RSS in almost all villages across the country serve as a firewall to protect this generation of children, then all the generations to come will become self-sufficient in protecting themselves. The women and child development ministry has emphasised the need to crack down on online child sexual abuse videos, rape imagery and other offensive pornographic material.

In June the government after a meeting with stakeholders had decided to coordinate with various agencies and support efforts for an international alliance to ensure full protection to women and children from cyber-crimes which know no boundaries. Gandhi had also said that it is important to sign MoUs with agencies and alliances working to combat child sexual abuse material and pornography internationally.