The Police say online child abuse is rapidly increasing as more people move their daily lives onto digital platforms.

A workshop held by the Police is now equipping officers and stakeholders with the skills to detect, investigate, and prevent these crimes.

According to the police, the migration from offline to online activities, especially on social media platforms, has opened new doors for criminals targeting vulnerable children.

Deputy Commissioner Cathrine Waluala, Police Head of the GBV Protection Division.

“Online child exploitation and abuse, it's the crime that is on the increase. As you can see, they are having those TikToks. They are having Instagrams, Facebook, and the list goes. And the criminals are not behind. They are very much happy seeing that now we don't need to find people physically, but either to run all the social media, all the internet platforms for them to be able to have their vulnerable people. 

“And children are targeted mostly because children believe in those gamings on the internet. And the criminals are behind those gamings on the internet. So Nampol realized that we cannot be left behind,” she said

The workshop in Swakopmund is focusing not only on investigations but also on educating the public about reporting online abuse.

The Police have raised alarm over parents and adults who unknowingly contribute to abuse by sharing inappropriate images of children online.

“Uploading unnecessary pictures of a child without the child's consent, even the parent's consent, it's a crime. And now, we are also sharing that information on how the public is reporting this crisis online,” said Waluala.

Social workers are also in attendance, and one of the objectives of the training is to improve referral pathways.

“The referral pathway is very easy to smooth our work and also to deter victims from one point to another. And then the victim gets frustrated and even re-traumatized because it's a problem if you don't know to whom you should send the victim. That's why we are really emphasizing on the referral pathway,” she said.

With community policing officers expected to take this knowledge back to schools and communities, the police hope improved reporting and awareness will help curb the growing threat of online child abuse.