The tremendous increase in child sexual abuse is overwhelming. In the UK alone, the police spend about one billion pounds a year tackling over 70,000 cases of child sex offences. It is also believed that with the ever-growing increase of the porn industry, this is becoming more difficult.

Pornhub is the largest pornography site, with the UK being the second biggest user after America. This site gives millions of people access to all sorts of porn and according to its annual review, it boasts that the videos uploaded were watched 87 billion times in 2015 alone. However, the most disturbing form of sexual exploitation is the act being performed via Skype by sexual predators on under-age children in the Philippines.

Sexting is also another form of child sexual abuse, which is common through the use of any form of mobile communication and amongst teenagers, with boys often asking girls to send them nude and inappropriate pictures. More that 85 per cent of 14-year-old boys have access to a smartphone and 96 per cent of them have watched porn. Parents are advised to be stricter with their children and what they do on their phones; they should also apply parental control on their access to the internet at home.

It is believed that by 2020, with the rising increase of child sexual abuse, the police will probably be investigating close to 200,000 cases costing about £3 billion. Although there are no definitive links to the rise of sexual abuses cases to increased access to porn however, the police are convinced that there is a link.

This topic is often not discussed or mentioned at home but needs to be addressed by parents to their kids as a matter of urgency. Men usually dismiss porn as harmless adult entertainment, women usually don’t partake in it and would only go as far as watching “Fifty Shades of Grey”, but for most parents to consider their children are participating in it would seem horrific whatever their social class.

There are various ways that this issue can be tackled, with the help of industries, for example IT/tech companies, schools and parents. Betting companies are an example of how this issue can or should be tackled, they deny access to their website unless one is 18 and can verify that with a valid credit card. Mobile and internet service providers have been forced to introduce filters as a default setting for their new customers, although they have refused to apply this to their existing customers which obviously poses a problem. Schools also need to introduce sex education to their pupils informing and advising them on appropriate sexual behaviour on and off line.

The Netherlands for instance, are way ahead than Britain when it comes to grooming. Children as young as five are already informed about respectful relationships and fathers talk about porn with their sons and there are books about avoiding “lover boys”. Many schools have banned the use of smartphones in the classroom, whilst in Silicon Valley smartphones and tablets are considered unacceptable for children.

Child sexual abuse is a very dangerous and heart-breaking issue that must be stopped!

How do we tackle these sexual exploits?

How do you monitor what your children do behind closed doors?

We need to recognise that child sexual abuse is now on par with terrorism and people trafficking as scourges of our modern day society.