CyberTip website reaches fifth year of protecting kids

Today marks the fifth annual awareness day for Cybertip.ca, Canada’s tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children, operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (Canadian Centre).

In support of Cybertip.ca Awareness Day 2016, the Canadian Centre has launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the online sexual exploitation of children and to demonstrate how tips from Canadians can help protect children from sexual abuse.

Cybertip.ca receives an average of more than 3,300 reports per month and encourages Canadians to protect children from offenders by taking action and reporting concerning online behaviour. If the information pertains to a potentially illegal incident, the report is sent to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

“While this is certainly a global problem, the sad reality is that these crimes are also happening in homes across Canada,” said Lianna McDonald, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre.

“Anytime we see a report of a child who has been sexually abused, there should be immediate consideration that the abuse has been recorded and shared online.”

A recent study conducted by the Canadian Centre examined close to 152,000 reports, including 43,762 unique images and videos classified as child pornography. Nearly 80 per cent of the images assessed by Cybertip.ca depicted very young, pre-pubescent children, under 12 years of age. One of the most alarming and under recognized facts is that almost 70 per cent of these images appeared to have been taken within a home setting.

The Timmins Police Service views Cybertip.ca as a valuable community safety resource that allows for suspicious cyber behaviour that potentially places a child at risk to be reviewed and investigated where deemed necessary.

The Canadian Centre is encouraging parents and adult members of the community to visit Cybertip.ca to view the campaign and to engage in the conversation on social using the hashtag #ctipday2016.