Child helplines to respond to reports of online child sexual abuse material too: Irani

Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday said the government has alerted child helplines to reach out in all districts for not only emergency support but also to report online child sexual abuse material to local adminstration and police.

Irani's comments came in response to a tweet of nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi who, tagging a report by child protection organisation Indian Child Protection Fund (ICPF), raised concern over the increase in demand for online child sexual abuse material during the ongoing lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak.

"Sharp increase in online child sexual abuse material in India during lockdown is a moral and mental virus, that will stay long after the #CoronavirusPandemic ends. I urge concerned ministers, @rsprasad ji, @smritiirani ji and @AmitShah ji to control it now," he said in a tweet.

Responding to it, Irani said the government has alerted all child helplines to reach out in all districts for not only emergency support but also report in online child sexual abuse material to local admin and police.

"We have worked with @BBAIndia and your team to ensure our efforts converge to help protect our children. We hv also alerted all child helplines to reach out in all districts for not only emergency support bt also report such abusive material to local adminstration and police.@k_satyarthi (sic)," Irani said in a tweet.

The ICPF on Monday said the demand for child pornographic material, also referred to as child sexual abuse material, has been rising during the lockdown period.

"Data from the world's largest pornography website also reveals that traffic from India has increased by 95 per cent between March 24 and March 26, as compared to their average traffic, pre-coronavirus outbreak," ICPF said in a statement.

India is currently under the biggest lockdown with around 1.3 billion people asked to stay home in view of the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed 353 lives and infected more than 10,000 people.