Online child pornography is getting more brutal, more sadistic and involving younger children, according to the recently published Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) 2006 Annual Report. The report also reveals that the number of images depicting the most severe sexual abuse has risen four-fold.

The IWF, which is funded by the telecommunications industry, said it has investigated more than 31,000 reports of sites that contained alleged images. Out of the 31,000 sites investigated, more than 10,000 of the reported pages on more than 3,000 websites were found to contain illegal child abuse content.

Nearly 60 per cent of all commercial child abuse websites sell child rape images, it added. Some 90 per cent of the children being abused in the images reported by the public appeared to be under 12 and 80 pecent were female.

Foundation chief executive Peter Robbins said: “Sadly, we have to report new trends regarding the young age of the child victims in the images we assess and the dreadful severity of abuse they are suffering.

“These facts, coupled with the longevity of some commercial websites, mean the victims’ abuse can be perpetuated for many years as the images are repeatedly viewed.”

Mr Robbins said: “The increase in reports processed by our hotline team is due in part to the increased awareness of our organisation but also to the identification of a growing trend in the use of remote image storage facilities.

However, IWF claims Britain is winning the battle, with less than one per cent of all kid abuse content on the internet being hosted in the UK since 2003. In 1996, British websites hosted 18 per cent of child porn on the net.

“We’ve been very successful in combating this problem because of our links with the online industry,” IWF added.

The IWP was established to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content. It has helped crack down on the activity by producing a list of child abuse websites, which is provided to all Internet service providers which then block access.

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Entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2007 at 8:02 pm under Technology.

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