A South Florida non-profit organization that gives support to abused children says there have been fewer reports of child abuse cases since the coronavirus crisis led states to impose restrictive lockdown policies. While this may sound good, the members say the lack of calls poses a threat. 

A spokesperson for the Sawgrass chapter of a South Florida biker group said kids who formerly received counsel in school or talked to somebody about their problems are unable to do so now. Parents who spotted and reported suspicious cases to the group no longer reported any. 

Bikers Against Child Abuse (B.A.C.A) are only one of the many non-profit organizations that have reported fewer calls and lesser chances of reaching out to children who live in very hostile environments. 

B.A.C.A

1Up, the organization's training coordinator, said each member of the group undergoes strict federal background checks and a year of training with a senior member to make sure they are capable of protecting kids. 

The group aims to empower children by sitting with them during traumatizing court hearings or trials. They are also trained to interact with an abuse victim at a safe place. They work to make young people feel protected.

The bikers pay abused kids a visit and explain their organization's mission. The children are given their road names, a blanket, and a teddy bear. In some cases, the victims went from someone who hid behind a person to happily running around while blowing bubbles. 

Internet Abuse

The COVID-19 pandemic forced nations across the globe to slow down, leading the removal of internet child abuse images to come to a crawl.

The Internet Watch Foundation reported tech firms who are in charge of moderating websites to have less staff to investigate and delete inappropriate content. The shortage allowed illicit photographs to stay on sites longer, leaving the children vulnerable to pedophiles. 

According to the online watchdog, only 11 percent of all abusive materials are being deleted around the world. In April alone, just 1,500 URLs from a long list of flagged sites were removed, a big difference to March's 15,000. 

National hotlines are working at reduced capacity or had been closed following the coronavirus guidelines. While companies continually receive takedown notifications, the staffing issue has led to longer response times. The slow response allows sexual predators to view, share, and download explicit images and videos. 

In 2019, half of all abuse images flagged by the IWF involved children aged 11 to 13. Young individuals who belonged in the 7 to 10 age category were involved in almost 45,740 illicit materials. 

A recent report showed babies suffered the worst abuse, with girls featured far more often than boys. 

Almost a third of tens of thousands of web pages taken down features self-generated images. These included content where children have been groomed before having their photo or film captured using webcams. 

"It doesn't matter how often the team sees these kinds of content," an IWF spokesperson said, "They never fail to be shocked by the level of cruelty that some engage in."

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