Child Pornography - Home | National Rapporteur on Trafficking in ...

118
<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
3.2 Prevention
3.2.1 Introduction
The prevention of child pornography is evidently closely related to the prevention of sexual abuse of children.
7 After all, material constituting child pornography cannot be produced without the sexual abuse of
children having taken place. 8 The present sub-section will look at the aspect of prevention. Although the
prevention of sexual abuse of children will also be discussed, the prevention of child pornography will form
the focus of this discussion. 9 There seems to be no doubt about the most important aim in the prevention
of sexual abuse of children: it is to prevent potential perpetrators from abusing a child in the first place.
It would seem therefore that potential perpetrators and victims are the most obvious target groups when
implementing measures to prevent the sexual abuse of children. However, in view of the fact that the sexual
abuse of children takes place within specific situational contexts and social ecosystems and is influenced
by these factors, the literature takes a broader approach as a basis for the prevention of this type of abuse. 10
This approach gives rise to four target groups for the implementation of preventative measures: perpetrators,
victims, situations and communities. Smallbone et al. describe three prevention levels within each
target group. 11 Primary prevention aims to prevent individuals from becoming perpetrators and victims
by means of general information provision, and the raising of awareness among these target groups as a
whole. This type of preventive measure is geared towards each of the four target groups as a whole. By contrast,
secondary prevention is specifically concerned with those individuals, groups and locations that pose
a risk within the four target groups. 12 In comparison with primary prevention, secondary prevention has
the advantage (in theory) that the measures are aimed at the individuals and situations who/that require
them. 13 Tertiary prevention is concerned with intervention measures for individuals, groups and situations
after sexual abuse has already taken place. 14 This type of measure aims to prevent abuse from continuing or
being repeated. Tertiary prevention measures relate to early identification and the limitation of the harm
done to victims. In view of the fact that the classification into three prevention levels is commonly used
within the domain of criminology, this classification will also form the starting point in the present report,
albeit that this sub-section will be limited to the discussion of the primary and secondary prevention
levels within the four stated target groups. This section will therefore only be concerned with prevention
measures in relation to individuals and situations where sexual abuse has not yet taken place. Wherever
tertiary prevention is primarily concerned with identification, after-care and monitoring, measures that fall
under this prevention level will be discussed in §3.3 and §3.6. Although quite a great deal of attention has
7 See Article 4 of the Convention on the Protection of <strong>Child</strong>ren Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual
Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), Lanzarote, 25 October 2007, Treaty Series 2008, 58; Parliamentary Papers
II 2008/09, 31 808, no.3, p.5.
8 There are a number of exceptions to this, for example sexual abuse is not always involved in virtual
child pornography and sexting. See §1.3 and §1.4.3.
9 This refers to prevention of child pornography in the broadest sense of the word: preventing children
from becoming victims of child pornography as well as preventing the production, distribution, possession,
etc. of child abuse material.
10 Smallbone et al., 2008, p.198.
11 Smallbone et al., 2008, chapter 10.
12 Smallbone et al., 2008, p.48.
13 Smallbone et al., p.204.
14 Smallbone et al., 2008, p.49.