RAJSHAHI: Development activists at a meeting here yesterday urged media to play a strong role in preventing online sexual harassment against women and children, reports BSS.

Quoting a survey report on violence and repression against women and children conducted in the city, they revealed that 487 incidents of repression and violence against women and children were took place during February, 2017 to March, 2018.

The view-exchange meeting with journalists was arranged here under a project titled ‘Sexual Exploitation of Children Online and in Travel and Tourism’.

The Association for Community Development (ACD), a rights-based development organisation, in association with Teress Homes Netherlands organised the meeting at its conference hall.

ACD programme manager Ali Hossain, project coordinator Monirul Islam and programme officer Hafiz Uddin, among others, spoke at the meeting.

The speakers urged journalists to highlight the new problem of online sexual harassment and repression against children through their in-depth reporting so that policymakers take the issue seriously and find ways to address the problem.

Referring to the study findings, Ali Hassan said some children were seen facing the problems due to the abuse of internet, which is a concern for the society.

Time has come to combat the crime collectively and media has a vital role to play in this regard, he said.