Children in BC could get better protection from online exploitation through federal funding.
According to the BC government, Public Safety Canada is investing $3.5 million to help municipal police departments fight against online child sexual exploitation by using staffing, training, equipment, and to strengthen investigation capabilities for the next three years.
This comes as incidents of online exploitation have gone up during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, with BC RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit seeing more than 28,000 investigations opened between 2020 and 2023.
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says with children being on the Internet more than ever before, it increases the risk of predators taking advantage of them.
“Online child exploitation happens every single day, and as social media platforms continue to grow, we must ensure our children are protected from those trying to hurt them,” said Farnworth.
The province says the funding will also help the exploitation unit by increasing their capacity and the training of officers conducting these investigations.
They hope this brings more investigations, raises awareness, reduces perceived stigma from reporting these incidents, and helps both the provincial and federal governments in prosecuting offenders.
They add in September, the province will host a one-day forum with experts from the exploitation unit, BC Prosecution Service, and Community Safety and Victim Services to talk about ways to keep children safe online.
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