City modernizing efforts to combat child sexual abuse at public facilities

The City of Winnipeg is further training staff at pools, libraries and recreational facilities to watch out for signs of child sexual abuse.

Since the fall, the city has been working with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to develop a new program aimed at combating the sexual abuse of children.

It has resulted in risk assessments of city facilities, new protocols for reporting incidents of suspected childsexual abuse and modernizedstaff training that will start at city pools and aquatic centres. It will be extended to libraries and recreational facilities later this year.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said the program is partly in response to changes in technology.

The city is also launching a public-education campaign that urges visitors to city facilities to report instances of inappropriate behaviour or suspected sexual abuse.

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Surreptitious recordings of children in public places sparked this initiative,saidSigny Arnason, director of cybertip.ca and the associate executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

"We have to keep in mind for the offending community, children don't have to be nude for them to be aroused by these types of shots," Arnason said.