child pornography
In August of this year, an Atlanta man was charged with seven child pornography offences based on the evidence that he had convinced a nine year old girl to make sexually explicit videos for him, using her webcam. Also in August a Trinidad man was arrested in Miami having allegedly gone there to have sex with children whom he met in an online chatroom. As recently as November this year a Toronto man was charged with numerous counts of child pornography, after he was found in possession of ‘hundreds of thousands’ of images featuring horrific acts of sexual abuse. This arrest has triggered 341 arrests around the globe and resulted in the rescue of 346 children. All these arrests, the alleged perpetrators used what has turned out to be the number one tool in promoting the child pornography industry, the internet. With the continuing development of the electronic age, this global phenomenon has escalated into a multi- billion dollar industry, where the demand for child pornography have seen an increase in the number crimes being committed against children in order to meet this demand. In the meantime, lawmakers and law enforcement agencies are being challenged to curb this trend as they are continually being stalled because these crimes are committed across many platforms and borders around the Globe. With this in mind the World community has to come together to share one voice in combating not just the possessors, distributors or producers of child pornography, but the ones who commit these terrible act against our young children. So what is child pornography? Many societies around the world have a legal definition of child pornography on their statutes, but unfortunately many differ in their interpretations, especially when it comes to the definition of a ‘child’ or ‘minor’. The age of consent has also become a pressing issue between different jurisdictions. However, there is a general consensus as to the legal definition, as a result most territories abide by
References: CHILD PORNOGRAPHY LAW AND LEGAL DEFINITION. Retrieved from www.definitions.uslegal.com CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, THE INTERNET, AND CHALLENGES OF UPDATING STATUTORY TERMS.(2009).Harvard Law Review.122(8), 2206-2227. Retrieved from Gale Database. Hamilton,M.(2012). The Child Pornography Crusade And Its Net-Widening Effect. Cardozo Law Review.33,no.4:1679-1732.Retrieved from Gale Database. Murray,L.(1993). World Congress Suggest Punishment Of Sex Crimes. Hotel&Management,2084. Retrieved from Ebsco Host. Ward,M.(2013,July,1).Web Porn:Just How Much Is There?BBC News Technology. Retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk. Wortley,S & Smallbone,S.(2006,May). Child Pornography On The Internet. Center For Problem-Oriented Policing. Retrieved from www.cops.usdoj.gov.