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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
One of the conclusions that can be drawn from the audit is that child abuse material does not play
a (major) role in most treatments provided to the victims of abuse. Most care providers indicated,
amongst other things, that they have hardly had any contact, or have had no contact whatsoever,
with child pornography. During therapy for sexual abuse, any material that may have been produced
of this abuse was rarely discussed. The care workers estimated the direct consequences
of the abuse as being more acute and more severe, and had usually not even thought about the
possible existence of images. Furthermore, the care workers expressed doubts about the permissibility
of bringing up the possibility that footage of the abuse was made, due to the risk of this
resulting in further traumatising the child and their parents. In some cases, they indicated that they
personally sense a barrier to start doing this, or that they consider it to be the responsibility of the
authorities involved in detection.
According to the care workers, in the cases in which the existence of images was brought to the
fore, this was not a priority for many victims during the course of the treatment, because the victims
were not yet aware of the implications of this, and because other matters such as unleashed
emotions or problematic family relationships had required greater attention. According to the care
workers, young children are not able to take stock of the consequences of the existence of images,
and parents only slowly start to gain an understanding of the permanency of this aspect of being
a victim and the implications that it entails.
3.7.4 Provision of assistance to victims of the distribution, possession
and viewing of child abuse material
It is not only the production of material constituting child pornography that creates victimhood, but
also the distribution and possession of such material. Research carried out in Germany into the provision
of assistance to revealed that the existence of visual material of the abuse leads to additional
problems for victims at a later stage in their lives: the images themselves give rise to shame and feelings
of guilt, and the fact that the images have been distributed and can no longer be deleted from
the Internet leads to feelings of powerlessness. The care workers also indicated that victims can be
afraid of the perception, on the part of others, that they voluntarily participated in the realisation of
the images. The study clearly explains that for the above reason, victims find it very difficult to achieve
closure. 730
Specific assistance needs to be provided for these types of victims. The German care workers who were
interviewed who deal with victims of sexual abuse presumed that a component relating to child pornography
often leads to a more far-reaching dissociation and a greater likelihood of post-traumatic
stress syndrome (PTSS), and that additional diagnostic and treatment competencies are necessary for
this, which they usually do not possess. The majority indicated that they have no knowledge of the way
in which victims deal with the permanent character of victimhood, and do not therefore possess the
treatment techniques for this. The information provided revealed that care workers also develop feelings
of powerlessness and hopelessness whenever they devote attention to the permanent character of
victimhood during treatment. They are also unable to comply with the most important request for help
of victims, namely the removal of the material. 731
730 Von Weiler et al., 2010.
731 Ibidem.