Welcome to another week and another question. The topic this time is child abuse imagery.
Damien Green MP, the minister for policing and criminal justice said last week that images of child abuse online have become more extreme than ever before and that such images are now estimated to run into tens of thousands.
We’ve certainly noticed an alarming rise in the number of worrying search terms people have used to find images on the net. These terms invariably come to our attention because our blog is child-focused and so they show up on our analytics data.
This morning for example, someone on the internet has already created a search using the words, “child porn pink pussy”. We dread to think what other search terms the day will bring.
But it got us thinking.
Much like plans heralded by Google and other tech giants, Damien Green now wants to create a database of images like the ones mentioned above, so that police can start to track and locate abused children and their abusers. Mr Green explains in the article above that such technology already has achieved positive results – when one image of a child was shared throughout a police network recently, that child was located the following morning, from the other side of the world.
There are millions of blogs out there like ours too, who must find that concerning search terms are used to try to locate indecent images of children, and yet no technology has been put forward to try to track and trace the origins of those searches. It may be that some of these research terms are not used by paedophiles but others doing work in the field trying to locate abusers, though we suspect much of what we see should be of concern to the relevant authorities.
Our question this week then, is this: how can we protect children from child abuse online?
Researching Reform 
Child Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse in Australia
The great good fortune of Australia, its economic strength and its plasma screen middle class soaked in Christmas cheer, should not disguise the fact that at the heart of this nation is a sickness.
One chilling look at the child sexual assaults and child pornography cases filling our courts tells you that something is very wrong. More troubling still, we are laying the foundation for long-term generational dysfunctionality.
Starkly put, here is what the problem looks like.
Between 1989 and 1994 about 12,000 items of child pornography were seized in Australia. This year, in one case alone, police seized 729,000 child pornography images and 2700 movie files.
It’s become a tidal wave to such an extent that the most common offence dealt with in the NSW Local Courts relates to possession of child pornography.
Look, too, at child sexual assault (children under the age of 15).
The latest figures I’ve seen, in a study conducted at the University of NSW, show that in NSW’s District Courts the most frequently charged offence of all cases finalised was sexual assault, with sexual offences against children constituting 66 per cent of that total.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/society-and-culture/getting-away-with-child-abuse-20101216-18zik.html#ixzz2wDLkXd4f
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Thank you, R. It looks like this is a world wide problem.
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Yes it is now an industry which is much, much bigger than drug smuggling in terms of the financial returns for the providers and distributors.
http://www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com/
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Terrifying.
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In recent times I have been asked for advice in Family Law cases where a parent has sought (and obtained) sole custody of children, despite the children disclosing/ complaining of being sexually abused by that parent during contact visitations, to teachers, psychologists, doctors and the other parent.
The children had given detailed statements of how they were observed by other adults during the incidents of sexual abuse, who were taking photographs and filming on cameras. Or the sexual abuse took place in a secluded location in the countryside with video cameras mounted on the surrounding trees.
Such photographs and video films earn huge sums on Internet websites.
The Evidence Act requires that children are treated as competent witnesses and that their evidence must be treated as reliable and credible. But of course, Family Courts are not required to adher to the rules of evidence.
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Thank you for your comment, R. Who do you think are the biggest perpetrators of these images – parents, relatives, family friends or strangers?
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Research has shown that parents are the main perpetrators of child sexual abuse with biological fathers, step-fathers, male siblings, and other older male relatives are the major perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Strangers account for less than 4 per cent of child sexual abuse although they most often feature in media reports, Court proceedings etc.
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Yes, I think I remember reading about that. I was just wondering whether that included photographic abuse. I guess it’s part of the research?
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Didn’t I read somewhere that social workers are to be given smart phones to take photo of kids in care? Why?
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Oh , another point. The emergence of unisex toilets. Can’t say I would approve of them. In our digital age where kids have phones with cameras I don’t think its a good thing to have unisex toilets that are open to all age groups!
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Internet porn could be easily stopped, ask the man who has the key to shutting down the entire internet. He would no doubt do the same for shutting down internet porn.
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Hi S4J, thank you for your comment. I think it would be very hard to shut the entire internet down now; it’s become so much a part of life, business too. Isolating and shutting down porn is much harder – you have to find the content and sometimes that can be very complicated. People talk about different levels of the internet. There’s the level you and I see, the outward layer but then, there are deeper layers people like us can’t access or don’t know how, with a lot more content which is both sinister and controversial in nature.
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Shutting down the internet is not that difficult and certain people can actually achieve that, just as working outside the loop.
Obviously internet is a tool no-one wants to lose but I was only stating that some seriously clever tech. people could shut it down quite easily, so in view of that it really is not difficult to rid the internet of porn by other methods. other than a shut down.
Its just that too many seriously high ranking people are involved in the porn.
No doubt many of the porn freaks also work outside the loop having roving ISPs.
Days working in hacking rooms for banks highlights the way people will try and cheat financially. But porn addicts use many forms.
Some 17 years ago while researching injustice and family courts I typed in many random words and fishy was one of them. That word brought up many options and it was obvious that one site was very much more than fishy. I reported it and it was shut down so my gut instinct was right.
Social sites for minors should be regulated where the site is for underage visitors and passport with postal code required with parental consent.
For surfing there is already parental control methods.
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There are lots of misconceptions about the internet. The internet was a project in USA in the 1970s. With the thought of imminent atomic war. MIT was tasked to develop a system so that communication could still continue even if telephone lines were severed.
WW3 never happened but it resulted in the inception of the internet. It first allowed universities to relay instant messages via a computer to each other. It was designed that so that it would seek out alternative routes by TCIP if telephone lines were severed. Development continued to what you see today and is still being developed.
There is no way that the internet can be stopped now. It is not owned by just one person who can pull the plug but ownership is multi corporation and it would be ludicrous to try now as so many rely on it. Filters can be set up to stop a certain amount of porn but the programming will seek alternative ways to get to the goal. Servers can be blocked, example of the North & South Korea, but then all other information is blocked too. The threats in North Korea are the biggest filter!
Remember the internet was designed to allow information to get through and some will use it for their own ends and that includes porn. It will get worse not better. Education is the only way to offset the effects upon young minds. It is there now and we all have to deal with it individually and not rely on someone pulling the plug because that will never happen simply because it can’t!
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Thank you for your comment, Dana. I agree with you, education is the way forward. How we address paedophiles in this context though, is harder: how does society address this issue?
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It is my view that most paedophiles and other child sexual abusers have a neurological disorder (i.e. a brain defect affecting the area of the brain which stimulates and controls the emotions and feelings) similar to or part of a psychopathic disorder. They lack empathy and compassion for their victims and have no remorse for their actions and blame others for the acts they commit, usually the victims.
They have no sense of moral or ethical right and wrong, An action is `right’ if it gains them power and control and satisfies their weak egos, and is `wrong’ if it results in their punishment e.g. incarceration. Their major dislikes are for any form of imprisonment (as they are in a situation they cannot control), and of psychiatry/ psychology as they do not wish their condition to be exposed. Some read widely in psychology but only to enable them to mentally manipulate others and control the emotions of their victims. Some study neuro-linguistics which also aid their manipulations and deceptions of others.
What is essential therefore immediate upon their recognition as a paedophiles/ child sexual abuser and as with all other violent offenders, is that they are ordered to undergo thorough and comprehensive neurological examination (Brain MRI Scan) and psychiatric assessment to assess their functioning and self-controls and most importantly the level of risk they present to others. If they present a medium or high level of risk to others then they must be controlled by frequent monitoring and supervision of their activities, initially in some form of imprisonment and later on their release.
A publicly available register of their names and whereabouts must be maintained in order that members of the public can protect themselves from them. i.e. a National Register of Violent and Sexual Offenders.
This is not of course the complete answer but continuing research studies must take place by neurological researchers into refining methods of detection of such individuals and of possible surgical treatment to their brain malfunctioning.
Individuals and society must however have ways of defending themselves against such offenders until there are advances in methods of neurological corrections and medical treatments.
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/july-2012/psychopathy-an-important-forensic-concept-for-the-21st-century
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Thank you for your thoughts and all the research; it’s a fascinating area.
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Many Intra-familial paedophiles can be found in the Family Court system where child sexual abuse allegations are made. Due to the inadquate methods of investigation of such allegations (usually merely an interview of the child by a police officer or a social worker followed by an interview with the alleged offender), they find it easy to have the allegations dismissed. The psychopathic element of their behaviours also make it easy for them to deceive and manipulate the lawyers, CAFCASS workers, and Family Consultants, many of whom are already sympathetic to them that such a heinous allegation has been made against them.
So Courts are presented with situations of a child making allegations and an adult making denials and officials presenting opinions with strong biases towards the alleged offenders. Courts in such circumstances have little choice to find such allegations as unproven. (but rarely false)..
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PS. Just watch HP when discussing child trafficking, family courts, social services and wrongful removal of children and child porn. Funny how these subjects receive the least attendance by MPs. Don’t they just run a mile at the subjects.
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Yes, they do…. although it’s not much of a consolation, family politics generally were always shunned. At least now MPs are talking about the system a little more. Maybe these things will become more readily discussed one day. (I’m ever hopeful).
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