E/CN.15/2014/CRP.1 Chapter Two: Identifying and describing the problem This chapter identifies and defines key terms in analysing the problem of ICT-facilitated child abuse and exploitation and describes the most common types and forms of related behaviour. Due to the relatively recent emergence of many forms of cybercrime and ICT-facilitated child abuse and exploitation, a number of definitions and terms are still evolving. Whilst a few terms key terms, such as “child”, have clear international legal reference points, others do not. As a result, not all terminology used in this study is intended to be of a definitional character, legal or otherwise. Rather, the study seeks to provide an effective description of relevant phenomena, practices and acts, which may or may not be currently criminalized in all jurisdictions. Key terms and concepts Child and children Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)28 defines “child” as any person “below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” Importantly, the CRC leaves open the option for States to adopt lower or higher ages of majority, thus giving States Parties some leeway in defining childhood. Similarly, article 3 (d) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines children as persons under 18 years of age. Article 2 of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour conclusively defines children as anyone under the age of 18 years. The 2009 Report of the Executive Director on Effective crime prevention and criminal justice responses to combat sexual exploitation of children29, prepared by UNODC for the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), notes that some Member States generally define “child” for the purposes of national child sexual exploitation legislation as any person less than 18 years of age, while others chose to differentiate between distinct categories of minors, such as infants, juveniles, and adolescents, thereby using different age-thresholds. Variations in the definition of “child” under different legal systems is one factor that can complicate the ability of law enforcement agencies and others to intervene in cases of child abuse and exploitation.30 Abuse and exploitation The World Health Organization (WHO), describes “abuse” of children as either the physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment of a child, or the neglect of a child, in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s physical and/or emotional health, survival and development31 “Child sexual abuse” can be described, more specifically, as: “[t]he involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent, or that violates the laws or social taboos of society. Child sexual abuse is evidenced by this activity between a child and an adult or another child who by age or development is in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, the activity being intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the other person.”32 __________________ 28 29 30 31 32 Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York, 20 November 1989. United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 1577. To date, the CRC has 194 States Parties, making it one of the most widely ratified international treaties. E/CN.15/2009/14 Paragraph 4, available at http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CCPCJ/session/18.html. See. Quayle, E., Lööf, L., Soo K., Ainsaar, M., Glossary. In: Ainsaar, M., Lööf, L., (eds.), Online behaviour related to child sexual abuse. Literature Report,. P. 9. Available at http://www.childcentre.info/robert/public/Online_behaviour_related_to_sexual_abuse.pdf. WHO, 2014. Child maltreatment, Fact sheet N°150. Available at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs150/en/. WHO, 2003. Guidelines for medico-legal care for victims of sexual violence. P. 75. Available at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/924154628X.pdf?ua=1. V.14-03040 7