Child pornography
In the age of fast moving technology, there are new victims who can be vulnerable to re-victimisation over and over, for the rest of their lives.
These are the children exploited by the perpetrators who take pornographic pictures of them and circulate them through the internet. There is no way to know how many offenders these victims have. Often these children are unaware that pictures of their abuse are being taken. There are thousands of pictures of unidentified children.
And technically every time someone views a pornographic picture of a child, it is abusive.
https://cacjc.org/the-shocking-facts-about-child-pornography/
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd speaks of a 'monster' in possession of 540 counts of child pornography
FAST FACTS
28,000
Number of internet users viewing porn, every second
3,000
Approximate number of English-language websites that distribute child pornography
1 in 7
Number of “youths” who report being solicited for sex online
The Link between Porn and Sex Trafficking
The demand for porn drives producers to use force, fraud and coercion to manipulate victims into becoming objects of sexual material.
There are many connections between pornography, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. However, traffickers and abusers also use porn to groom victims, training them about what is expected of them. They expose victims to porn as part of the grooming process to lower their inhibitions, desensitise them and normalise the sexual abuse they will experience.
Source - Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis For Professionals Investigating the Sexual Exploitation of Children
“Right before any time a client was brought into the room, I would be shown pornography. And being that young, I think it translated for me as an overall thing, as a woman—this is what men expect from you, and this is what people want from you.”
Lexie - child sex survivor
A Mother’s Story of Child Pornography Victimisation
[M]y daughter was abused repeatedly to produce images for the purpose of being traded [and] shared over the [I]nternet. Without a market to receive and trade those images, without the encouragement of those who wanted to acquire the images, I truly believe this abuse would not have occurred.
All those who trade these images and thereby create the demand for lurid and violent depictions of children are participants in the exploitation of my daughter. Each traded picture that placed a value on inventiveness, novelty, or cruelty played a role in egging on the abuser to even more vile acts. The pictures of my daughter were ‘made for trade’ — her abuser adapted to serve his market— whatever his audience was looking to acquire, that’s what happened to her ...
Producer, distributor, and consumer — everyone who participates in this evil exchange helps create a market, casting a vote for the next abuse. Regardless of whether they directly abused children themselves, reveled in the images of suffering, or persuaded others to abuse children on their behalf (to provide images of the abuse) each participant has a responsibility for the effects...
[A] shadow... comes over her face if a stranger gives her an unexpected compliment. The pictures are still out there... Now that she’s growing older and realising the extent of the [I]nternet, she’s also beginning to grasp the darker side of the story— how many people see those same pictures as something to enjoy rather than abhor. We have no way of knowing how many pedophiles used the pictures of her being tortured and degraded as an opportunity for personal gratification ...
I can find no words to express the fury I feel at those who participate in this evil, or my scorn for any attempt to minimise responsibility by feeble claims that the crime was ‘victimless.’ My daughter is a real person. She was horribly victimised to provide this source of ‘entertainment.” She is exploited anew each and every time an image of her suffering is copied, traded, or sold. While the crime is clearly conscienceless, it is hardly ‘victimless.’
I asked my daughter what she most wanted to ask of the judge. Her request: “Please, don’t let them pretend no one’s getting hurt.”
Source: Report to congress 2010. Strategy for child exploitation prevention p.10
Combating Child Pornography
What can you do?
There are things that you can do to fight against the darkness that child pornography brings to so many lives. Not everyone can work in the digital world to fight against child pornography like Mr. Ashton Kutcher, but you can do your part by not contributing to the demand for child pornography.
Don't Consume Porn
As long as there is demand for pornography, the porn industry will continue to exploit vulnerable people to meet that demand. If you participate in the porn market, you are contributing to its existence. Be an activist for change and mitigate sex trafficking by refusing to consume porn.
Do your part.
Make a difference.
