Child Abuse: Publish mocking videos of children and be jailed – CRI warns

Executive Director of Child Rights international condemned previous instances where the privacy of youngsters were intruded leaving them completely traumatized.

Child Rights International has warned that any individual or group of individuals who publish any form of media content on the internet that is detrimental to the rights and dignity of children will be met with the full force of the law.

Executive Director for Child Rights International, Bright Kweku Appiah said the era of abuse of children’s rights with impunity has come to an end.

He cautioned against all forms of unlawful interference in children’s privacy by older persons that are in breach of Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

READ MORE: Uganda has set up a secretariat to enforce laws on pornography

Mr. Appiah who was speaking at the fourth edition of the Child Protection Accountability Series held in Accra, condemned previous instances where the privacy of youngsters were intruded leaving them completely traumatized.

He mentioned for instance a situation where nude photos of some Junior High School students were circulated by some older University Students, saying those acts warranted their arrest by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

The child rights activist also condemned the recent trend where children whose performances in class fall below expectation are filmed and in some cases encouraged to use profane words or engage in illicit sexual activities that are videoed and disseminated on social media. 

Bright Appiah warned that ‘’in our commitment to promote and protect the inherent dignity of every child, we will not hesitate to sue any individual or organization that initiates or distributes any images of children intentionally in order to mock them,” he declared

READ ALSO: Wrongly jailed 'satanic' daycare couple gets $3.4m

He further cautioned teachers and parents to be mindful of the type of information they disseminate on children, saying some of them do not only have the tendency to ridicule the child’s vulnerability, but also impede their developmental cycle.

The Child Rights International has also urged the National Communications Authority and police service to assist in tracking down the sources and distribution of such videos to help in bringing the perpetrators to book.

Executive Director of Child Rights international condemned previous instances where the privacy of youngsters were intruded leaving them completely traumatized. Read Full Story