ActionAid Tanzania has launched a campaign for the protection of children against online violence as fear grows over the rise of electronic media violence in the country.

Development Diaries reports that the campaign, which was launched in Tanzania’s Chamwino District ahead of the International Day of the African Child, also coincided with the official launching of the district’s child protection council.

The non-government organisation (NGO) convened government officials, other NGOs, media and other stakeholders engaging in the protection of the rights of children in the country to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the full realisation of the rights of children in the country.

It is understood that girls and women who use social media are routinely subjected to explicit messages, pornographic photos, cyberstalking, and other distressing forms of abuse.

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), in its Disruption Harm Project, noted that 67 percent of 12–17-year-olds in Tanzania are internet users.

Four percent of these users were victims of grave instances of online sexual exploitation and abuse in 2021 alone.

This includes being blackmailed to engage in sexual activities, someone else sharing their sexual images without permission, or being coerced to engage in sexual activities through promises of money or gifts.

Speaking at the event, the coordinator of ActionAid Tanzania, Joram Wimmo, said his organisation had decided to convene stakeholders so that they can join hands in the campaign to fight against violence meted on children.

‘We need to know that children have important needs that bring about their rights and our target is to ensure that our children are well protected and living at safe places’, he noted.

Parents were urged to guide their children especially when using smartphones.

Photo source: ActionAid Tanzania