Thirty investigators from the Criminal Investigations Department and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police from the Western and Central Regions have been educated on the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (1038) to promote the safety of children online.

The two-day training of the investigators on Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse took the participants through the laws governing the subject under consideration and how the officers could use the laws to defend, protect and ensure safety of children who might be abused.

ACP Yakubu Akologo Ayamga, the Western Regional Deputy Police Commander praised UNICEF for sponsoring the training of the officers.

He encouraged them to consult the legal department of the service to effectively address the growing menace of online child sexual exploitation.

ACP Ayamga added that the investment by UNICEF underscored the seriousness of the subject matter and the need for communities and the securities to act quickly to safe children from this emerging exploitation and abuse.

He urged the officers to work hard in detecting, investigating to protect children and communities adding, "we also need to share best practices in protecting the dignity of children".

She also promised that there would be positive outcomes from the training.

ASP Eunice Atinya, the Western Regional Director of DOVVSU, who was a participant, was grateful to UNICEF for the training.

She said: "We formerly did not know which acts to use in prosecuting offenders which sometimes resulted in less punishment or sentencing, but now through this education we are assured of better outcomes for victims."

She described the course as very intensive and pleaded for more days for subsequent courses.

Madam Hilda Mensah, Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF noted how the Internet space was becoming a huge threat to the safety of children.

"Records show that some of these sexual exploitations sometimes come with extreme abuses, lowering down on human dignity," she added.

The Child Protection Specialist added that perpetrators despite extorting monies from victims also left them with serious emotional scars of betrayal with many committing suicides.

Madam Mensah said: “Ghana was recording high figures of child sexual exploitation and abuse particularly on the Internet and entreated parents to be protective of their children.

“As a child, be wary of any person who asks you to take nude pictures or even invite secretly without your parents' consent for such amorous reasons,” she added.