HENAN HARIT

Morocco- On November 4, a campaign was launched in Morocco in order to raise awareness of children, schools, and their families, as well as various civil society actors, about the dangers of online violence against children and how to combat it. Within the scope of the campaign, Moroccan citizens will securely report photos and videos of child sexual abuse on the internet through the “Morocco Cyberconfidence Space”

The campaign has been supervised by the Moroccan Center for Polytechnic Research and Innovation with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe under the slogan of “We will all protect our children from online violence and abuse.” Many NGOs working for child rights participate in the campaign, which will last until the end of November.

A new campaign in December

The Smile Reda Association, which was established in December 2009, has carried out works to combat suicide among Moroccan youth. Meryem Behri, an executive of the association, told us that they, as the association, have participated in the campaign to warn children against online dangers. She also reported to us that their association will launch a new campaign in December to combat online child abuse. The children and young people will be able to report the online abuse against them to the “Break Silence” hotline.

Online violence increases

Pointing out that online violence against children has been increasing in recent years, Meryem Behri said, “Due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the children started to take online classes and they were deprived of outdoor activities. All these have increased online child abuse. Between 2019 and 2020, we conducted a survey in eight regions of Morocco with the participation of 1,200 children. 28 percent of the children who participated in the survey stated that they were subjected to online violence.”

She faced online violence

A young woman, who asked us to keep her name confidential, told us she was also subjected to online violence. “When I was 13 years old, I met a boy on the internet. He told me he was 16 years old. He asked for my photos and videos and I sent them. Then, I found out that my videos and photos were shared by students at my school. I was subjected to severe insults by students. They were very difficult days for me. I told my mother what happened to me and she told my father. My father told me he would change my school. After two years, my photos were shared on the internet again. The school administrators launched an investigation and found out the student, who had shared my photos,” said the young woman, who is now 18 years old and a university student.