UAE reinforces child protection measures

Over 4,000 students and 10,000 community members briefed on steps to prevent child abuse

24 November 2015

Over 4,000 students and 10,000 community members across the UAE have been briefed on steps to prevent child abuse, the Ministry of Interior said.

The UAE’s concerted efforts to protect children from online and real-life abuse are evidenced by the recent inauguration of the 116111 hotline.

Launched by Lt General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior during the #WeProtect: Global Online Children Sexual Abuse Summit in Abu Dhabi last week, the hotline is dedicated to reporting suspected transgressions against children in the UAE.

“Last year Unicef published a report that showed the devastating dimensions of violence. It found, for example, that around 120 million girls globally, more than one in 10, have experienced sexual violence,” said Fatoumata Ndiaye, Unicef Deputy Executive Director at the summit.

Summit attendees also heard that one in every four girls and one in six boys will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. Seventy three per cent of these children do not tell anybody of their ordeal in the first year since the incident and less than half speak out about the abuse for at least five years.

Major General Dr Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, and Chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), said in a statement: “While we recognise the significant benefits that internet can offer to children in terms of education and development, unfortunately there are risks, too, such as having access to inappropriate material or falling prey to online influences by immoral adults and strangers.”

Quoting statistics, Dr Al Nuaimi said: “Children across the world spend an average of 1.6 hours per day online; other specialised researches indicate that on average, 62 per cent of children worldwide have had a negative online experience; and only 42 per cent of parents know their children had suffered any negative online experience.”

According to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, a child is categorised as any individual below the age of 18.

According to Article 274 of UAE’s Federal Law No 3 of 1987, suspected child abuse must be reported when there is a valid reason to believe that a minor is being harmed, neglected or is at risk.

“Whoever becomes aware of a crime and abstains from informing the concerned authorities shall be punished by a fine not exceeding a sum of one thousand dirhams. Exemption from such a penalty may be granted if the person concerned is a spouse of the offender or one of his descendants, ascendants, brothers, sisters or persons having the same degree of relationship by marriage,” the law says.