The Department of Justice has launched a new campaign aiming to help victims of online sex abuse to report the content and make sure those behind the abuse get prosecuted. The campaign is part of ‘The national centre for combatting illegal content online,’ which has been established in 1999.
Under the campaign, the authorities are urging anyone who faces abuses like photos or videos being circulated online without consent, online child abuse, racism through online, online discrimination against people of other descent, to report them directly to the new Hotmail https://hotline.ie/contact-us/report. The authorities will make sure the issue is dealt with care and ample help of garda will be availed.
The intimate videos and photos shared online without consent is a prevailing social problem in the country which can cause long term mental as well as physical after effects to the victim. In some cases people do it as revenge. According to a latest survey, one in 20 people in Ireland are facing such abuses.
The government had tightened the law against online abusers with the introduction of ‘The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act’ early this year. The law is also known as ‘The Coco Law’ because it is dedicated to the girl named Coco, who ended her life in 2018 following a sexual abuse she faced online.
The government is pledged that such incidents will not happen again in the society and according to the Coco law, if convicted, the abusers can get €5,000 fine and/or 12 months of imprisonment.