Duchess of Edinburgh highlights online child abuse in Brussels

The Duchess of Edinburgh and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips are focusing on the urgent issue of online child abuse. They will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to meet with European politicians. Their goal is to raise awareness about the dangers children face online. The Duchess, a patron of two charities, will speak to senior politicians at the event. These charities, NSPCC and Plan International UK, aim to highlight the risks and promote better protections for children. Ms Phillips will join a panel discussion to call for stronger measures from other nations against child exploitation online. This visit comes at a time when reports of extreme child abuse images online are rising. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) noted a 22% increase in the most serious category of these images from 2022 to 2023. This period has been described as the worst year recorded for online child sexual abuse. Before the trip, Ms Phillips emphasized the grave impact of child sexual abuse. She stated that this crime affects children globally and often involves offenders who exploit them from far away. She called for a united international response to combat this issue and stressed the need for immediate action. To support these efforts, the government plans to introduce new laws. These laws will aim to strengthen protections against online child sexual abuse. As part of the ongoing Crime and Policing Bill, creating or owning AI tools for producing child abuse images will soon be illegal.