Sociology

In the age of technological advancements child pornography has taken on different forms, from print, videos, audio and now the internet.  With high end video capable mobile phones and untraceable internet usage, child pornography has reached new heights.  With just a click of button a seemingly innocent website link leads to child pornography websites.  There are also sites that create virtual children for pornography through manipulation of images and using a picture of a child, who may not have necessarily participated in its creation.

Child pornography as defined by the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography as any representation by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities of any representation of the sexual parts of a child. (Trinidad, 2005).  Some claim that possession of pornographic materials depicting children in different sexual poses, or even in their most innocent conditions which nonetheless attractive to pedophiles, is a victimless crime.  What are victimless crimes and should child pornography be treated as one

Victimless crime is a term used to refer to behavior that is illegal but does not violate or threaten the rights of anyone.  It can include situations where an individual acts alone as well as consensual acts in which two or more persons agree to commit a criminal offence in which no other person is involved.  This is based on the concept of libertarianism which focuses on the autonomy of the individual, asserting each persons right to live their lives with the least possible interference from the law (Liberal Democratic Party).  Some organizations believe that child pornography is an expression of childrens sexual liberty (Klain, Davies,  Hicks, 2001).  Audrey Rogers (2008) in her paper Child Pornographys Forgotten Victims, she discussed several cases where the federal district court judges defined possession of pornographic materials involving children as victimless crimes.  The Fourth Circuit, in United States v Toler held that the primary victim in child pornography offenses is society in general, not the specific child depicted. It placed the offense in the category of victimless crimes by reasoning that trafficking in child pornography harms the moral fabric of society at large (Rogers, 2008).

Victimless crimes protagonists basically maintain that in possession of pornographic materials involving children they did not violate the rights of any child portrayed in those images.  Proponents further argue that the ruling of the court in Stanley v Georgia gave them the right to possess obscene materials as their right is protected by the First Amendment (Stanley v. Georgia, 1969).  The United States Supreme Court however, reversed its own ruling and stated that child pornography was not protected by the First Amendment even if it was not obscene.  The Supreme Court reasoned out that the use of children as subjects of pornographic materials is harmful to the psychological, emotional, and mental health of the child.  It stressed that child pornography was intrinsically related to the sexual abuse of children in at least two ways.  First the materials produced are a permanent record of the childrens participation and the harm to the child is exacerbated by their circulation.  Second, the distribution network for child pornography needed to be closed to control the production of child pornography (New York v. Ferber, 1982).  

Child pornography is a clear record of child sex abuse its victims would therefore experience the same emotional and physical consequences in addition to any harm resulting from the pornography (Klain, Davies,  Hicks, 2001).  Studies have shown that the emotional cost of child pornography includes children undergoing distress during the period of sexual exploitation, at the time of disclosure and in the post-traumatic phase (Burgess  Clark, 1984).   Child victims experience depression, withdrawal, anger and other psychological disorders (Bentovim  Bentovim, 1996).  Child victims also frequently experience feelings of guilt and responsibility for the abuse and betrayal, a sense of powerlessness, and feelings of worthlessness and low self esteem (Swanston, Tebutt, OToole,  Oates, 1997).  These feelings are often expressed through increased fearfulness and changes in sleep patterns including re-occurring memories, flashbacks, dreams and nightmares associated with post-traumatic stress (Bentovim  Bentovim, 1996).

Psychological scarring and emotional stress of child-sexual victimization often lead to or continue a cycle of destructive behaviors such as substance abuse, involvement in prostitution and depression or suicide.  Children often abuse substances in an attempt to numb the memories of the abuse and desensitize their pain (Brannigan  Van Brunschot, 1997).

Child victims of pornography face the possibility of a lifetime of victimization because pornography can be distributed indefinitely.  Physical, psychological, and emotional effects of child sexual abuse are coupled with the pornography resurfacing.  Being photographed during sexual abuse intensifies the childs shame, humiliation and powerlessness (Hunt  Baird, 1990).  In addition children tend to blame themselves for their involvement in pornography, and this makes the experience more painful (Whitcomb, De Vos,  Smith, 1998).

The effects of child pornography resonate into the child and society at each publication of the obscene images.  The distribution of child pornography and its possession perpetuate the abuse that the child experienced.   Child pornography is not a victimless crime.  Each possession and distribution of child pornography is one count of violation of a childs rights.  Our legal system aside from making child pornography and its possession malum prohibitum should find ways to nip the problem at its bud.  As long as people think that adult-child sex are permissible the well of child pornography will never dry up.

The emotional effects of child pornography are carried onto adulthood as shown by the numerous studies.  Substance abuse as a desensitization tool will not bring about the restoration of the childs innocence.  Some would grow to think that adult-child sex is normal and will continue the vicious cycle of child pornography.  The physical effects may be cured but the long term emotional and psychological scar will forever remain.