Twelve monthly reports of potential online child abuse

Agenzija Appogg receives about 12 reports a month of potential child abuse over the internet through its hotline service.

The agency last year passed 27 cases over to the police Cyber Crime Unit after the hotline - part of Supportline 179 - received 105 reports in the second half of 2006.

The biggest number of the reports - 40 per cent - revolved around adult pornography accessible to children.

The authorities were also alerted about child pornography and child grooming activities, the first annual report on the hotline shows.

Are these figures the tip of the iceberg?

"I hope there are not that many cases," the agency's acting operations director, Catherine Fleri Soler, said. But with her feet planted firmly on the ground, she pointed out that the number of domestic violence reports had increased drastically since the agency first started offering services.

"It is imperative to create more awareness and focus on prevention," she told The Times. She pointed out that children's curiosity and their constant quest for adventure could be one of the risk factors.

Moreover, most perpetrators are sly enough to attract children in different ways. While some adults pose as youngsters themselves to win children's trust, in other cases the abuse is coming from people whom the child knows.

"The internet has opened the communication channels, and nowadays can even be accessed through a mobile phone."

Ms Fleri Soler said the agency had come across cases of child abuse over the internet and child grooming for future sexual encounters.

"It is imperative to inform children about these dangers," she said, adding that it needs to be hammered into youngsters' minds never to go on their own to meet someone they got to know online.

Ms Fleri Soler highlighted the importance of parents keeping their eyes on children while these are surfing the net. "It is important not to let them on their own for long hours," she said, adding that, ideally, a computer should be in a living area rather than in the children's bedroom.

"Parents also need to better understand the risks the internet poses, while at the same time not be afraid of the net because it can be used for several good reasons."

Asked whether net-nanny systems are enough to protect children against abuse, Ms Fleri Soler said that although filtering does reduce the risk, such systems were not foolproof.

Speaking to 11-year-old girls attending the Lily of the Valley secondary school, the chief executive of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Joe Gerada stressed the importance of different entities working together to diminish the risks for children.

The hotline, launched last year, aims to raise awareness about safer internet use among children, parents and educators. A section of the agency's website - http://www.appogg.gov.mt/hotline_reportillegalcontent.asp - is dedicated solely to information about this topic.