Belgian Twitter has been overtaken by pictures of cats as part of a new push from Child Focus to raise awareness of child abuse.
Using the hashtag #catsforkids, Child Focus hopes to raise awareness as part of the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.
Elke dag worden er zo’n 19 miljoen beelden van seksueel kindermisbruik online verspreid. Dat zijn er 78 keer meer dan schattige katten op Instagram. Post ook je kat met deze boodschap en #catsforkids. Breng zo dit onrecht mee onder de aandacht & maak het internet weer wat zachter pic.twitter.com/2coGInWO3q
— Child Focus België (@ChildFocusNL) November 18, 2020
Translation: Every day, some 19 million images of child sexual abuse are spread online. That's 78 times more than cute cats on Instagram. Post your cat too with this message and #catsforkids. Bring this injustice to the attention & make the internet a bit softer again.
“Interpol estimates that 19 million abusive images are shared every day on the internet or via social networks,” said the Foundation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children.
“This is 78 times more than the number of pictures of adorable cats shared every day on Instagram.”
#catsforkids #childfocus pic.twitter.com/toNA4exzqe
— Veerle, niet essentiële tweets worden ook gelezen. (@lefeber_v) November 18, 2020
In that spirit, the campaign calls on people to share a cat photo, with the message that “for each cat photo, 78 images of child sexual abuse are shared.”
"Your cat photo can help to highlight a major injustice," Child Focus said, underlining that "this problem is often ignored. Images of child sexual abuse are of course not only published on Instagram. They circulate on the 'dark web', are exchanged via WhatsApp, on forums, etc."
#catsforkids#childfocus Mag ik iedereen oproepen Zoveel mogelijk katten te delen Ik heb ook nog ergens foto's van mij die ondertussen al in het Vaticaan zijn terecht gekomen Dat slecht gevoel gaat nooit meer weghttps://t.co/mP1YB2nA6B pic.twitter.com/YPD2kGbnNN
— Little Baby Duck ???GingerElvis??? (@StefVonSexron) November 18, 2020
"The problem is therefore huge in terms of quantity, but remains invisible. By means of cat photos, Child Focus has found an accessible way to draw attention to this terrible injustice."
#catsforkids pic.twitter.com/RM2KRqWN4A
— CD (@Speciale_CD) November 18, 2020
Images of online child sexual abuse can be reported anonymously on this website, after which they are checked by a specialised team. If possible, they are then deleted in collaboration with the police.
Anyone who thinks they have witnessed child sexual abuse can contact this hotline.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times