("Supreme Court Rejects..." 2002) More constitutional problems have been encountered in the law's battle against child pornography as a federal court in September 2004 outlawed a Pennsylvania State law that required internet service providers (ISPs) to block websites containing child pornography. The Court considered the technology used in the blocking of such sites as clumsy that could cause "massive suppression" of constitutionally protected speech.
Apart from conducting a legal "balancing act" between the protection of children from sexual exploitation against the protection of free speech and free thought by the law makers, the campaign against child porn on the Internet is also hampered by its "borderless" characteristics. In order to counter differences in porn laws of different countries that prevented prosecution of child porn offenders, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on May 25, 2000. The protocol, which has been signed or ratified by almost all UN member countries, seeks to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation by laying special emphasis on the criminalization of serious violations of children's rights such as sale of children, illegal adoption, child prostitution and pornography. ("Optional Protocols..." 2002) as signatories to the protocol, member countries are committed to contribute in the fight against child porn. As a result, several criminal networks and individuals engaged in the production and distribution of such material have been busted and according to law enforcement data, about 90% of international investigative commissions, issued by Interpol, are related to Internet child porn crimes. (Saytarly, 2004)
Despite this limited success, the nature of child porn crimes on the Internet present complex new challenges for law enforcement agencies in connection with investigating crimes, collecting evidence, identifying and apprehending offenders, and assisting child victims. These difficulties are mainly due to the reason that the victims and the criminals often live in separate geographical locations, and the victims are usually reluctant to come forward and identify the offenders. At times, the child victims even deny that any crime has been committed against them. ("Internet Crimes against Children," 2001)
Role Parents Can Play in Protecting their Children
Parents have the biggest responsibility in protecting their children from online predators and pedophiles. Just as in other areas of life, the parents have to lend a helping hand to their children about how to use the Internet appropriately and provide them with safety tips. It is important for parents to be open and frank with their children about sexual victimization and potential online dangers and tell them about the rules of safe online behavior such as:
Never giving out their names, telephone numbers, address or school name to strangers on the Internet
Never arranging face-to-face meetings with people they meet online.
It is important to place the computer in a common area of the house instead of in a child's bedroom and making the computer and the Internet a family activity by spending time with the children online in order to monitor their favorite web destinations. It also helps if the parents maintain access to their children's online account and randomly check their mail, files and disks, and are frank and upfront about why they are doing so. Use of filters to block inappropriate web sites can also be considered. Information about the downloading and use of filters is available on various sites on the Internet. It is also prudent for parents to find out about computer safeguards utilized by their children's school, the public library, and other places where their children may use computers, such as in the homes of their children's friends. ("Kid Porn Easier to..." 2002; Stempel, 2001) Any child porn activity should be promptly reported to agencies such as Child Pornography Tipline specially created to fight child porn online.
Warning Signs
There are various telltale warning signs that parents can watch out for to detect whether their children are being stalked by predators on the Internet or whether they are accessing inappropriate online material. Young children who are sexually solicited or victimized often become withdrawn; hence if a child becomes withdrawn from the family, the reasons for the change in behavior should be explored as. Other warning signs for parents to watch out for include:
Your child quickly turns off the computer monitor or computer screen when you enter his/her room to conceal the computer content.
A child is using an online account belonging to someone else: computer-sex offenders...
The Internet offers a virtual shopping mall for pedophiles. The predator usually begins by chatting at first, then attempts to break down the child's inhibitions by introducing sexual content into their online conversations and may even send pornographic images. This is extremely dangerous because when a child sees images of other children engaged in sexual activities, they believe that this is acceptable behavior, thus making it easier for the predator
It should be clear that effects of sexual child abuse vary from person to person (Sanderson, 2006). Some children may come up with the extreme effects of the sexual abuse they suffered, forget them and lead towards a better life if got a chance, while some other children may fail to recover their emotional and psychological strength and confidence. They may suffer failure in their general goals of life too.
The man allegedly asked the "child" to have sex with him and to meet him at the Burger King on Beretania Street, where police arrested him at 8:10 A.M. Similarly, a 31-year-old Waianae man convicted of using the Internet to arrange a sexual encounter with a minor has been ordered to spend 30 days in jail and five years on probation. The pedophile's girlfriend admitted that he went online
" However surprisingly, there have been arguments for pornography and have stated that it encourages experimentation with new media and any act to censor it would go against the First Amendment which has not only intellectual, moral, political, and artistic value, but practical and economic value as well. It is believed that the First Amendment supports accepting adults, unrestrained by censorship, to search for innovative ways to use new media and
Child Sexual Abuse According to the oxford advanced learners dictionary, child sexual abuse is the cruel treatment of a minor especially sexually. The case of an offender of child sexual abuse can be categorized into three clusters which comprise of sexual assault which occurs when an adult touches a minor in a manner so as to fulfill his or her sexual desires; the second cluster is sexual exploitation whereby the minor
Pornography, Women, And the Digital Revolution Digital technologies have gone through a revolutionary period of development over the past twenty or so years. Some say that the digital revolution is helping to facilitate participatory democracy; some say it will "sweep aside the gatekeepers, allowing free expression and broad access to information"; but on the other hand this revolution has the potential to corrupt innocent children by exposing them to "video game
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