Saudi internet accounts linked to sexual harassment of children found

There is an increase in cases of online sexual exploitation of children in Saudi Arabia, with an average of seven cases per day coming to court and a study revealing that almost 10 percent of children in the country being affected by some form of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced its close collaboration with the Interpol to protect children from sexual harassment, particularly through modern social media outlets.

The ministry said that, in collaboration with the Interpol, it was able to detect 4,086 internet accounts targeting and luring children for sexual exploitation.

National Forum

Next week, Riyadh is set to host the National Forum for the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation of Children via the Internet.

This forum aims at protecting children from harassment, and raising awareness on how to deal with it when it happens.

During a press conference held on Wednesday at the security officers’ club in Riyadh, Assistant Director of Public Security for Security Affairs Major General Jamaan bin Ahmed al-Ghamdi said that the Public security has detected 24 internet accounts exploiting children, five of which were sent to the Investigation and Prosecution Authorities.

The Interpol sent the Public Security 375 internet users accounts, 18 of which were referred to the investigation bureau.

A total of 387 was also sent from the Interpol, 23 of which were sent for investigation.

The statistics of the Ministry of Justice in 2014 revealed that the number of harassment cases reached 2,797 in Saudi courts, an average of seven cases per day.

A study conducted by the National Family Safety Program showed that 10 percent of Saudi children have been subjected to various forms of harassment.