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Human Beings as a Commodity
Sexual Exploitation of Children
Threat Issue
The sexual exploitation of children (SEOC) is a complex issue that poses a number of different and serious threats to children in Canada and internationally. Generally, SEOC is recognized to include the following types of criminal activity: child pornography, child prostitution, child sex tourism, and trafficking for sexual purposes.This broad issue is of concern to law enforcement because of the increased number of opportunities to exploit children that are facilitated by the Internet and other information and communication technologies, and also because of the number of challenges in trying to address these forms of illegal activity.
In recent years, the federal and provincial governments, and particularly law enforcement, have responded to the threats posed by these increasing criminal offences to a significant extent.The Government of Canada has a National Strategy to Protect Children from On-line Sexual Exploitation, which includes financial support to the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre (NCECC), a liaison point for both domestic and international law enforcement agencies investigating child exploitation over the Internet; Cybertip.ca, Canada’s national tip-line for reporting the on-line sexual exploitation of children; and also various integrated law enforcement units across the country mandated to investigate instances of SEOC.
Overview of Criminal Activity
Child pornography has become encompassed within the larger issue of child exploitation on the Internet, which has presented a myriad of opportunities to produce, distribute and collect child pornography (in the form of images and videos), as well as to enable pedophiles to establish networks where information and data can be exchanged.The Internet has also increased the number of opportunities for pedophiles to have contact with children.
A significant number of pedophile networks have been increasingly emerging on-line, involving individuals worldwide.These transnational networks coalesce around chat rooms, discussion and newsgroups, and communicate using applications software, such as instant messenger and peer-to-peer programs to exchange child pornography images and videos. Many of the chat rooms and newsgroups have increased their level of security through passwords as they try to avoid detection by law enforcement.An increasing number of fora that require payment to view and trade child abuse images, seek commercial profit from this type of exploitation but payment systems also helps to insulate the illicit activities from law enforcement as these websites are more difficult to investigate openly, and also generate profit for the owners. Moreover, there are a number of gathering places that exist on-line for like-minded individuals to exchange ideas and information on child exploitation.
On-line programs specifically designed for children and youth to make friends and play games, are targeted by pedophiles who pass themselves off as children in the hopes of grooming the child for sexual exploitation. Pedophiles can also remotely control a camera that is attached to a computer without anyone knowing, which can lead to threats and blackmail so that the child will comply with their demands.
Internationally, the production and dissemination of child pornography is a growing illicit market in which organized criminals are involved. Globally, annual profits from child pornography are estimated to total approximately C$24 billion. Many Canadians have been implicated in international investigations whereby child abuse images were downloaded and traded for a fee.
Child prostitution12 is usually a hidden section of the prostitution market, and thus frequently exists alongside adult prostitution, and is therefore, difficult for law enforcement to identify. Small groups of organized criminals and lower-level organized crime groups are involved in child prostitution in Canada. Prostitution rings involving children under the age of 18 have recently been dismantled in Ontario and Quebec, however, child prostitution is present in most larger urban centres in Canada.Traditional places of activity centre around Montreal,Toronto and Vancouver.
Child sex tourism is an offence under the Criminal Code and involves an individual traveling to various international destinations for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a child.The first person to be convicted in Canada with offences related to child sex tourism occurred this past June in British Columbia.This individual traveled to Cambodia in order to procure the sexual exploitation of children.The scope of the problem, that is of Canadians implicated in child sex tourism, may be larger than is presently known as a number of these types of reports have also been received by Cybertip.ca.
Negative Socio-economic Effects
The victims of SEOC offences face physical, psychological and health related effects over the short- and long-term. Child sex tourism highlights the inter-connectedness of SEOC-related offences, in that they victimize and present threats not only to children in Canada but also in a multitude of other countries, thus there are far reaching implications to these activities that transcend borders.
Pedophiles who seek out children on-line frequently present themselves as children and as a result, victims sometimes unknowingly engage in conversations with offenders, while others are groomed into accepting communication with pedophiles on the Internet.The danger this presents is amplified as children in Canada regularly use the Internet unsupervised.
SEOC-related offences are very time consuming to investigate, and are complicated by the multiple jurisdictions involved, to the extent that the crime, victim and offender are often found within and between different countries. Moreover, there are a number of means for pedophiles to communicate with like-minded individuals on the Internet that use encryption and multiple passwords on websites, which impedes investigations carried out by law enforcement.
While many integrated approaches have been implemented to address SEOC from a social, health and law enforcement perspective, it is expected that at least in the short-term, more loosely structured groups of criminals will continue to take advantage of the exploitation of children for profit.
12 Child prostitution refers to children and juveniles involved in prostitution under the age of 18.
