Research: Child Pornography

The definition of "child pornography" is the subject of much debate, particularly in courts. The legal definition varies across jurisdictions, however most countries prohibit photographs depicting minors engaged in sexual activity. Many jurisdictions, notably Canada, also prohibit non-photographic pornographic media featuring children, including computer-generated images, texts, and even audio recordings. In many countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia, nudist depictions of children are generally prohibited.

The Effects of Child Pornography

The criminalization of child pornography is, in part, justified by the assumption that it will cause paedophiles to abuse children. No conclusive evidence substantiates this assumption. On the contrary, child pornography appears to have a cathartic effect:

• O'Carroll, Tom (2000). "Sexual Privacy for Paedophiles and Children: A Complementary Background Paper."

  "Such an effect has been proposed in relation to Denmark during the few years when child pornography was openly and legally available: in that period sex offences against children were significantly lower than either before or after. (5) A similar phenomenon occurred during a period of liberalisation in West Germany, where from 1972 to 1980 the total number of sex crimes known to the police in the Federal Republic of Germany decreased by 11%. (6) Sharpe himself, whose possession of pornography was in contention, made the astute point in an interview that if child pornography led to sexual assaults, then there would have been a huge increase in assaults as a result of the allegedly much greater availability of child porn on the Internet. (7)"

• Diamond, Milton, and Ayako Uchiyama (1999). "Pornography, rape, and sex crimes in Japan", International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 22: 1-22.

  "However, there are no specific child pornography laws in Japan and SEM depicting minors are readily available and widely consumed. [...] The most dramatic decrease in sex crimes was seen when attention was focused on the number and age of rapists and victims among younger groups (Table 2). We hypothesized that the increase in pornography [in general], without age restriction and in comics, if it had any detrimental effect, would most negatively influence younger individuals. Just the opposite occurred. The number of juvenile offenders dramatically dropped every period reviewed from 1,803 perpetrators in 1972 to a low of 264 in 1995; a drop of some 85% (Table 1). The number of victims also decreased particularly among the females younger than 13 (Table 2). In 1972, 8.3% of the victims were younger than 13. In 1995 the percentage of victims younger than 13 years of age dropped to 4.0%."

• Kendall, Todd (2006). "Rape, and the Internet."

  This study found that "an increase in home internet access of 10 percentage points is associated with an 7.3% decline in [forcible] rape" of females of all ages as a group. Slate Magazine reported on this.

The Nature of Child Pornography

• Jan Schuijer and Benjamin Rossen (1994) "The Trade in Child Pornography."

  "We have called the claims about child pornography "myths." The existence of child pornography is certainly not. The myths are the exaggerated estimates of the number of children, the volume and value of the trade, the profits that are alleged to have been made, and the horrifying damage said to have been done to the children."

• O'Carroll, Tom (2000). "Sexual Privacy for Paedophiles and Children: A Complementary Background Paper."

"A survey of images in commercial child porn magazines that were available in the 1970s and early 80s by Schuijer and Rossen shows that only 14% depicted children engaged in sexual conduct with adults. Most of the material, 61%, showed children either nude at play or posing erotically. (8)"

• www.almapintada.com: Child Pornography Statistics 1984-2000

  "Less than an average of ten new series per year have been circulated on the internet since 1984. Only 14 of these series include children engaged in sexual intercourse, 32 in non-penetrative genital contact and 39 in fellatio. Most of these series include genital display only."

• Kenneth Lanning (1992). "Investigator's Guide to Allegations of "Ritual" Child Abuse, Chapter 2.1: "Stranger Danger." Quantico, VA: Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.

  "Child victims who, for example, simply behave like human beings and respond to the attention and affection of offenders by voluntarily and repeatedly returning to the offender's home are troubling. It confuses us to see the victims in child pornography giggling or laughing."

Impact on Child Models

Very little research has been done into the direct effect of modeling on children.

• R. Underwager and H. Wakefield (1992). "Interviews with Three Boys."

  "Despite the attempt to obtain a balanced description of the events, a remarkably black and white picture emerged. The boys described their friendship and feelings for Ferdinand in glowing terms. On the other hand the attitude towards the police is unequivocally negative."