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New group tackling online grooming, sexual abuse of women, girls to be formed: Sim Ann

SINGAPORE — The authorities hope to put a lid on the online grooming of girls and sexual abuse of women on the internet, and a new group will be set up later this year to tackle such harm.

The authorities hope to put a lid on the online grooming of girls and sexual abuse of women on the internet.

The authorities hope to put a lid on the online grooming of girls and sexual abuse of women on the internet.

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SINGAPORE — The authorities hope to put a lid on the online grooming of girls and sexual abuse of women on the internet, and a new group will be set up later this year to tackle such harm.

Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, made the announcement after an engagement session on Monday (March 8), which is also International Women’s Day.

The new group — known as an Alliance for Action — will join other such groups that have been launched to bring together people across different sectors to brainstorm solutions to aid Singapore’s post-pandemic recovery.

So far, two engagement sessions have been held to kickstart conversations on the launch of the new group. 

More than 60 participants from diverse backgrounds, including parents, students and representatives from the technology industry, attended the sessions that were held on Feb 22 and Monday.

Speaking to reporters after Monday’s engagement session, Ms Sim said that the dialogues focused on three broad categories of online harm.

The participants spoke about websites or online businesses that entice women — particularly girls — to take part in vice, as well as the online publication of intimate images and footage without consent, with identifying details such as names and phone numbers.

They also discussed instances of one-to-one interactions over social media platforms, which can be hotbeds of sexual grooming and harassment.

Ms Sim said that participants raised a number of possible solutions and ideas during these conversations.

They include improving public education by putting together resources to support potential victims of online harm.

However, since it is still early days, she added that the Government is open to other ideas and solutions.

“We are still quite early in sketching out what are the possible actions, so I really wouldn’t rule out much. 

“I think that what we want is to get more people to join us in the discussion and then also to point out the gaps that they think exist and produce a framework,” she said.

“We are looking for projects that are 'actionable' and where we can see representatives from the public, people and private sectors working together.”

Some of the other alliances that have been formed include those looking at sustainability, the built environment sector and education technology.

Last month, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth announced four more alliances that seek to push for improvements in work-life harmony and access to technology, among other issues.

Related topics

women online grooming sexual abuse Alliance for Action

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