Satyarthi calls for UN convention to stop child abuse

Noble laureate Kailash Satyarthi has called for a UN convention to address the issue of digital child sexual abuse and trafficking.

Satyarthi made the comments on Saturday during a conference- IIMPACT 2019, organised by PAN-IIM Alumni Singapore.

IIMPACT is a forum created by the PAN- IIM (Indian Institutes of Management) alumni in Singapore.

“What I am working on and demand (that) a legally binding UN Convention to stop digital abuse of children and child trafficking,” Satyarthi said.

Satyarthi said he was also in talks with the Indian government to lead in proposing a UN convention to stop the use of technology for child abuse.

“We need strong champions who can bring this issue, not in this General Assembly in September because it is too short, but next year. We have to build it with strong demand,” he told PTI.

The Nobel Peace Prize Winner lamented that technology is being misused by traffickers as well as organized criminals to use children in pornography and other kinds of sexual abuses.

Blocking the network is not going to be enough, he said, calling for a UN convention that would hold these tech-savvy child abusers accountable for the crime.

Highlighting the possibility of a successful UN Convention, he said success has been achieved in getting the International Labour Organisation law on child labour by massive mobilization campaign across 103 countries in 1998.

Satyarthi said he has held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of Norway, Sweden, and Qatar over the issue of digital child abuse.

It is possible and achievable, he said of the UN convention.