413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Policy Implications
As the above finding illustrates, child pornography and sex tourism are two growing international
problems. In order to effectively address them, authorities in countries where child pornography is
produced, traded, and downloaded, and where sex tourism is occurring, need to cooperate with one
another and make this issue a priority. One way to accomplish this is by developing and enforcing
memoranda of understandings between the United States and other countries that detail how offenders
will be identified and who will be in charge of the investigation and prosecution.
Practice Implications
In 2003, the United States passed the PROTECT (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the
Exploitation of Children Today) Act, which imposes fines and/or imprisonment for up to 30 years for US
citizens or residents who engage in illicit sexual conduct abroad, with or without the intent of engaging in
such sexual misconduct. From 2003 to 2012, only 33 individuals have been prosecuted in the United
States for international sex tourism under the PROTECT Act (United States Sentencing Commission
2013). By prioritizing this crime and enforcing the PROTECT Act, more US citizens and legal US residents
traveling overseas for the purposes of sex tourism can be identified and brought to justice. Additionally,
by focusing on the websites that facilitate sex tourism, individuals who have perpetrated this crime, or are
intending to do so, can be apprehended.
Finding 3: Child pornography is easy to access online and requires little
technological savvy to download.
Law enforcement officials and child pornography offenders unanimously agreed that the Internet has
made child pornography extremely accessible and that individuals need little technological knowledge to
download and trade child pornography. Several offender respondents stated they did not initially intend
to download child pornography, but there was child pornography mixed in with the adult pornography
which they had downloaded. This acted as a catalyst for what became for many an addiction to child
pornography. Additionally, because they felt it was so easy to obtain, many offenders believed that
viewing or downloading child pornography could not be illegal. If it were illegal, there would be a lot more
barriers to overcome in order to access the content.
Practice Implications
Because stakeholders and offenders stated how easy it is to obtain child pornography online, steps should
be taken to decrease access to such material. This would require better filters on search engines (e.g.,
Google, Bing, and Yahoo) and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., GigaTribe and FrostWire). Additionally, search
engines and peer-to-peer networks could develop pop-up windows that warn an individual who types in
certain search terms associated with child pornography that they are about to commit a crime and then
direct them to a website that provides more information on child pornography crimes and offers resources
regarding child pornography addiction. Currently, Bing in the UK has implemented a pop-up warning
window for child pornography searches that links the individual to an organization that provides
counseling for child pornography addiction. 89
Finding 4: Many child pornography offenders want treatment.
Inmates incarcerated on child pornography charges frequently described their relationship with child
pornography as an addiction or sickness. They highlighted the paucity of treatment options within prison,
which are only available at certain facilities for inmates close to release. Several offenders recounted
wanting treatment to address their child pornography addiction prior to apprehension, but explained that
they did not know where to access confidential treatment, as they feared being reported to law
enforcement for seeking clinical help. One respondent expressed gratitude to the government for forcing
89 http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/27/social-workers-child-sex-grooming
290