The competent authorities are very concerned about the increase in cases of sexual abuse and online bullying against minors in our country.
The attention of parents and children who use social media is recommended by the Head of the Office for Combating Cybercrime, Andreas Anastasiades, speaking to the Cyprus Times.
"This year until May, 111 cases of sexual abuse of minors via the internet were investigated by the office, which is of particular concern to us. Last year we investigated a total of 214 cases and every year we see the numbers increasing," he said."
As Anastasiades explained, there are cases where minors are victims who send nude material to other persons and these images then make the rounds on the internet, while there are other allegations where perpetrators seek and download material, or distribute to other users illegally photos, or videos, of sexual abuse of minors.
This year 45 children since the beginning of the year have reported incidents of sexual bullying via the internet to the authorities where naked photos of them were leaked.
The police, he noted, are urging parents to report any incidents against their children so that the authorities can also investigate and identify the perpetrators. "There is confidentiality and certainly under no circumstances should parents have second thoughts about reporting such phenomena to the police," he said."
A rapid increase, police say, is also being recorded in incidents of online bullying among minors, which can lead children to extreme acts and behaviours.
"Where there are complaints again the police intervene to identify those who commit bullying and in several cases recommendations are made."
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