‘It’s staggering to see those numbers’: Incidents of online child sexual exploitation on the rise in Canada
More children are falling victim to online child sexual offences across Canada, a new federal report shows, with the COVID-19 pandemic playing a role in a recent surge in incidents.
The report, published by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, analyzed the number of incidents of online child sexual exploitation and abuse between 2014 and 2020.
In 2020, there were 131 incidents of online child sexual exploitation and abuse per 100,000 children and youth in Canada, more than double the rate documented in 2014, when such cybercrime data was first nationally collected.
To use another metric, the number of total incidents jumped from 10,739 in 2014 to 29,028 in 2020.
"It’s staggering to see those numbers,“ said Signy Arnason, Associate Executive Director for the Manitoba-based Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which runs Cybertip.ca, Canada's national child sexual abuse and exploitation tip line.
"If we keep the current model in place, which is no rules and regulations online, we're going to keep seeing these numbers increase," she said.
The report noted the COVID-19 pandemic likely played a role in an uptick in incidents in 2020, which saw a 35 per cent increase in the rate of police-reported online child pornography compared to 2019.
“There's an increased amount of time online and it’s particularly affecting adolescents,” said Arnason, “We’re seeing luring, sextortion, doxing, all of this is happening to the teenage population.”
Most of those teenage victims are adolescent girls between the ages of 12 and 17, accounting for 73 per cent of identified victims, according to federal data.
In comparison, boys in the same age range made up 11 per cent of the total.
The new report also delved into regional differences across provinces and territories between 2018 and 2020.
Quebec accounted for the largest proportion of persons accused of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, at thirty-nine per cent.
When accounting for population, Quebec also had the highest rate across provinces, with eight people accused per 100,000 people in the province.
Manitoba was close behind, at a rate of seven people accused per 100,000 of the population, second among all provinces.
Most of the incidents involved child luring offences in Quebec and Manitoba, along with British Columbia.
Despite those findings, Arnason doesn’t think Manitoba has a bigger online child sexual exploitation problem than any other part of Canada.
“This problem exists everywhere,” she said, “There’s no ‘centre’ in this country or part that’s immune to this issue, that’s the nature of the Internet.”
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is part of an advisory committee to Heritage Canada that is currently working on an online harms bill that will help form a regulatory framework for online safety.
“We've got to put a regulatory framework in place on the Internet because this just isn't working,” said Arnason.
“There's movement and that's important.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Eating disorders among youth skyrocketed during pandemic and so did associated costs, report finds
The number of young people experiencing eating disorders surged during the height of the pandemic as the social and economic costs skyrocketed too, a new pan-Canadian report has found.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.