On March 5, 2020 a new bill was introduced in the Senate titled “Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2020” or the “EARN IT Act of 2020.” This bill was brought forth to try and establish a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention, and for other purposes. The purpose of this Commission is to decide what practices the providers of interactive technology may use to implement prevention, reduction, and response to online sexual exploitation of children. This Commission will include nineteen members, which will be composed of: The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (or any of these leaders’ representatives). The remaining sixteen members are appointed by the Senate and House of Representatives. All these members will meet certain qualifications that make them fit for the job, including experience with such matters. Sexual abuse is a serious issue these days for both adults and children. A child, however, may not know that such an event is taking place therefore, it is not generally reported. It is important to minimize the possibility of this abuse happening and establishing a Commission to help stop it from happening online is a great start.
Let’s talk about child sexual abuse. It’s a tough subject, but one that we must address. Only about one-third of child sexual abuse cases are identified, and even fewer are reported. Although it has been shown that internet and commercial sexual exploitation are a relatively small segment of total sexual abuse cases, this is still significant to the overall problem. Over 90% of children that have been commercially sexually exploited have also experienced sexual abuse in the past. One of the most gut-wrenching facts though, is that “About 75% of child pornography victims are living at home when they are photographed. Parents are often responsible.” Perhaps with this bill getting passed and consequent formation of the Commission, these children can be saved from their abusers, often their own parents.
If these children are not saved now, there are many consequences that often result for persons who experience sexual abuse. These include academic problems, emotional and mental health problems, substance abuse at a young age, higher risk of teen pregnancy, etc. Everyone knows someone that is under the age of eighteen. Whether it is a relative or not, would you want the chance of electronic sexual exploitation happen to them? Hopefully the answer is “No.” You know how people say “Kids are brutally honest?” Why would any of that change now? Many of the victims of sexual abuse are not believed because usually the abuser is a family member or someone they are close with, and almost always the perpetrator is someone they know. “It is estimated that only 4 to 8% of child sexual abuse reports are fabricated. Most of the fabricated reports are made by adults involved in custody disputes or by adolescents.” Kids, especially at a young age, usually do not have much sexual knowledge, and when they do show knowledge in such a subject, it should raise awareness that something bad might be going on. This should be one of the signs to acknowledge that a child has been sexually abused. Whether the statement the child has made is true or not, it should most definitely be reported and investigated.
Just take a moment and think about how much exploitation is out there commercially and on the internet for literally everyone to see. There are pornographic web pages out there on the internet that have no censorship or any safety measures taken as to who has access to such websites. If this type of material is out there for anyone to see, there is also child exploitation out there that people can get their hands on. Just keep in mind, the reader of this article knows someone under the age of eighteen. Would you want that individual exploited all over the web and other places? Hopefully you readers keep that in your mind when thinking of wanting to push this bill further into legislature, possibly making it a law and creating a Commission to help put an end to all of this abuse against children. Please join me in letting your senators and your U.S. House Representative know that you care about the EARN IT Act and want to see it passed into law.
Website for Statistics:
Child Sexual Abuse Statistics (2015). Darkness to Light. http://www.d2l.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/all_statistics_20150619.pdf
Source for Bill Information:
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