child pornography and sexual exploitation of children online

that anything had occurred. All the children’s accounts were fragmentary, and the children
showed great difficulty in talking about their contact with the suspected perpetrator. They
often said that they did not remember what had happened; we do not know whether
this meant that they did not have any memory of the incidents or if it was too difficult
to put in words. Nevertheless, it became apparent that what the children least “wanted to
remember”, the most unpleasant or abusive activities, and those that were probably the
most shameful and guilt ridden had to do with the photography. It was shown that the
more interviews the children took part in, the more they talked. It is as if that they first
needed to “sort out the memories which emerged” and only later could put into words
what had happened” (Svedin and Back, 2003).
Since the Second World Congress we have continued to see an expansion in the availability
of technology and its continued abuse through the production of abuse images and text.
While it is difficult to disentangle the harms posed to children by a variety of sexually
abusive and exploitative practices, it is important to note that abusive images, once
uploaded onto the Internet, cannot be removed. This highlights the consequent needs
for specific therapeutic help for these children which addresses the challenges posed by
disclosure, the loss of control by the child, and the need for heightened sensitivity with
regard to their awareness of image dissemination.
3.2.2 Working with children abused through abusive images on the Internet
This research, and our practice experience to date, clearly has implications for the recovery
of children sexually exploited through their involvement in the production of Internet
abuse images and for those professionals wishing to assist them. As noted above, to date,
there is a general lack of expertise and experience amongst professionals wishing to meet
the needs of children abused and exploited in this way. A recent German study suggested
that many professionals feel both helpless about their ability to understand the needs of
such children and at times are part of a ‘conspiracy of silence’ in their unwillingness to ask
questions (von Weiler, 2008). It is going to be necessary for police officers, social welfare
workers and child professionals to re-evaluate their working practices in the light of what
we have learnt. Palmer (2005) suggested that there are three key areas which need to
be addressed: managing the discovery/disclosure process and the investigative interview
of the child, assessment of the recovery needs for the child, and the nature and content
of the ensuing intervention programmes. We need to rethink how we approach child
victims of abusive images once they have been identified and their whereabouts discovered.
Connected to Söderström’s work (Söderström, 2006), it is necessary to reiterate that the
impact of disclosure on child victims should never be underestimated and that when they
are informed that their images have been discovered the children feel impotent because
50|Child Pornography and Sexual Exploitation of Children Online