Scottish group to speak at Colombian event on ending child abuse ‘pandemic’

A Scottish-based group will argue for a new approach to end the abuse “pandemic” of children at an upcoming global conference.

Childlight, the global child safety institute hosted by the University of Edinburgh, says the world must learn lessons from the groundbreaking Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) that was formed in 2005 with the idea that violence was preventable, not inevitable.

Childlight officials will say that their method of preventing violence can be applied similarly to put an end to child abuse and sexual exploitation.

They will argue the case at the first global ministerial conference on ending violence against children, to take place in Bogota, Colombia, from November 7-8.

It will be attended by more than 100 governments.

With the VRU preparing to mark 20 years since it began, the programme’s former director Niven Rennie endorsed Childlight’s call and says Scotland could become “world leaders” in the field.

The VRU’s violence prevention approach uses experts who use data to analyse violence, understand its causes, and test which interventions work best to see what could be scaled up to help the whole country.

Childlight says that, alongside other forms of violence, the problem is too big for law enforcement and that a prevention-based approach is needed.

Professor Debi Fry, Childlight’s director of data, said: “More and more horrendous cases ranging from online grooming to sextortion involving AI-generated deep fakes are coming to our attention, and the consequences for children are devastating.

“It can adversely affect their health in more than a dozen ways, reduce their chances of doing well in school and getting a job and even shorten their lifespan.

“So the costs to children and society are enormous but as the remarkable success of Scotland’s VRU has shown, a greater focus more on prevention would help everyone and that can include better education, collaboration and regulation.

“At the world’s first global ministerial conference on ending violence against children, Childlight will be arguing for this public health approach to shift the dial and help the millions living in the darkness of sexual exploitation and abuse.”

Niven Rennie, a former director of the VRU and former president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: “Child exploitation is an issue that is often hidden from sight.

“By adopting a public health approach to this problem, we are recognising that we all have a role to play in preventing our children from being harmed.

“Scotland led the way in tackling violence in this manner and can be world leaders once again.”