According to Faeser, the number is “staggering”: cases of child pornography have risen dramatically

Number according to Faeser “staggering”
Cases of child pornography increased dramatically

According to police crime statistics, the possession, production and distribution of child pornography has doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year. Investigators still assume a higher dark field. One shortcoming are the legal hurdles in the prosecution of perpetrators.

The police in Germany have registered a sharp increase in cases of child pornography in the past year. The possession, production and distribution of images of sexual violence against children and young people increased by 108.8 percent in 2021, doubling compared to the previous year, according to police crime statistics published in Berlin.

Last year, more than 39,000 cases of child pornography were reported – last year there were almost 18,800 cases. The cases of child sexual abuse also rose by 6.3 percent to more than 15,500 registered crimes. However, the investigators assume a much higher number of unreported cases. The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, explained that the increased number of clues contributed “significantly to the clarification of the large number of unreported cases”.

“The most serious acts of violence against children and young people, who are the weakest members of society, must be proscribed, pursued and ended,” stressed Münch. In view of the increasing amounts of digital data, the BKA and the federal states are working “at full speed” to expand technical and human resources and improve procedures. According to the Federal Government’s Abuse Commissioner, Kerstin Claus, Europe has become “the hub for the dissemination of images of abuse”.

Increased European cooperation and significantly more investment in the human and technological equipment of the investigative authorities are therefore necessary. “I hope that the planned EU center for preventing and combating sexual violence against children will soon become a reality,” said Claus. The center could be used to centrally manage comparison databases, pre-sort unknown material – which requires particularly quick action – and thereby relieve the burden on national law enforcement agencies. Those affected should also be able to ask in the future whether there is material from them on the Internet.

“It can be very stressful to know that photos or videos from perpetrator networks are often disseminated for years or decades,” Claus explained. It is therefore important that they are specifically informed when material is found and deleted. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser called it “shocking that in 2021 an annual average of 49 children in Germany were victims of sexualized violence every day”. The investigative teams in the BKA would be significantly strengthened. This must also happen with the state authorities. According to Faeser, this will be an issue at the conference of interior ministers this week.

Legal hurdles in prosecuting perpetrators

The German Children’s Aid called for measures to improve the protection of children. The increase in crime figures in the area of ​​sexualized violence against children is “alarming”. A shortcoming is still the legal hurdles in the prosecution of the perpetrators. Since the storage of IP addresses by telecommunications providers is not permitted, the investigators are often unable to determine their identity. According to police statistics, the number of children and young people who spread, owned or produced depictions of abuse, especially on social media, has increased more than tenfold in Germany since 2018.

At that time there were 1,373 underage suspects, but their number rose to 14,528 last year. Claus explained that most minors are not aware that possession or forwarding is a criminal offence. There is also a lack of awareness that serious and very serious acts of violence are being committed against other children and young people. Above all, parents and schools are called upon to find pedagogical answers.

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