child pornography and sexual exploitation of children online

Executive Summary
Ü This thematic paper on Child Pornography and Sexual Exploitation of Children Online
recognises that since 2001 there have been many positive changes. Specifically:
• More countries developing definitions and laws related to child abuse through the
new technologies.
• A substantial advance in the capacity of law enforcement to respond both nationally
and internationally.
• An increasing acknowledgment that tackling the problems requires a multi-agency,
multi-sector approach.
• An increase in the number of hotlines available for the reporting of illegal content
to non-law-enforcement bodies.
• Increased education, particularly of children, and inclusive of children.
Ü However, unresolved challenges include:
• The differentiation of the sexual abuse of children in online settings from sexual
exploitation in the same environment.
• The relationship between commercial and non-commercial sexual exploitation
online.
• Lack of a critical understanding of the harms posed by the new technologies.
• Lack of training, expertise and capacity to investigate crimes against children, to
protect them from harm and assist their recovery.
Ü The paper attempts to examine the changes that have taken place since the Second
World Congress and in particular it moves away from examining harm solely in the
context of the production and distribution of child pornography to consider the range
of potential harms inflicted on children through the new technologies.
Ü There has been a significant change in the terminology used to describe sexualised
materials relating to children, and the term ‘abusive images’ is now widely used by those
who advocate for children’s rights in relation to sexual abuse through photography.
However, the paper acknowledges that in most jurisdictions the term ‘child pornography’
is used, and that attempts to challenge this are thought by some to be both confusing
and not to adequately capture the complex nature of the material. Objective measures of
victimisation within the images are explored, but it is concluded that not all sexualised
depictions of children are visual and that the term ‘abusive materials’ might both capture
this and lead to further definition in international law.
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