Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Web

Meter
, the Italian association dedicated to protecting the right of children to
their innocence in a fight against child pornography, has published their

2011 report

(only available in Italian) on the global pedophilia panorama. Founder and
President Fortunato Di Noto presented the data on February 14, 2012 to
family associations and government officials in a conference held at the
Vatican Radio (Rome, Italy).

The research of Meter has calculated over 90,000 children who are
victims of sexual exploitation through the Internet. Over 20,000 child
pornography websites were found worldwide: an almost 50% increase from
2010. The increase in social networks and their popularity has resulted in
a significant surge of child pornography material present on the Web. The
1,087 illicit social networks identified is triple the quantity found in
the previous year. “Sexting”, the use of sexual images, video and texts
exchanged via chat rooms, social networks, and cell phones, is sadly the
present-day trend infecting culture and ruining the lives of thousands of
children.

In addition to presenting the facts, Di Noto made a call for action: a
network guaranteeing the protection of children against sexual abuse and
manipulation is of urgent need. Along these lines, the Commission of Civil
Liberty, an organ of the European Parliament, articulated their consonance
with an appeal to strengthen efforts to identity and penalize the guilty
culprits. Last October 2011, the politician Tiziano Motti launched a
proposal in Brussels to enhance the action of the European directive by
extending the data trafficking registration to content providers (which
include chat rooms and social networks) in an effort to halt the action of
pedophiles on the Web.

The publication “SOS Ragazzi” reports that legislative lobbies in favor of
pedophilia pose challenges to the objectives of organizations like Meter. In a conference held in Baltimore in August 2011, Fredrick
Berlin- sexologist and founder of a clinic for sexual disorders under John
Hopkins University (USA)- advocated for the sanction on pedophilia, as long
as there is mutual consent and no violence. Howard Kline, science director
of the B4U-Act, has proposed the removal of pedophilia from the catalogue
of sexual pathologies in the 2013 edition of Diagnostic and Statistical of Mental Disorders.

By raising awareness on the issue of child exploitation on the Web, and by
proposing and working out positive concrete actions to combat the problem, Meter is on the front lines of defending the dignity of children
in the media sphere.