E/CN.15/2014/CRP.1
Figure 2: Forms of internet-facilitated child sexual abuse
Source: EU Safer Internet Project
Taking such work into account, and drawing from available research and data, including the Cybercrime Study, this study
considers the main forms of ICT-facilitated child abuse and exploitation under the following broad headings: child sexual
abuse material (child pornography); commercial sexual exploitation of children; cyber-enticement, solicitation and
grooming; cyber-bullying, cyber-harassment and cyber-stalking; and exposure to harmful content.
Child sexual abuse material (child pornography)
Before elaborating on the different forms of child sexual abuse material, it is important to first describe the term
itself.
Article 2(c), Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography
describes child pornography as “any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit
sexual activities or representation of the sexual parts of a child, the dominant characteristics of which is depiction for a
sexual purpose.” Article 34 of CRC itself requires States Parties to take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral
measures to prevent the “exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.”43 Article 9 (2) of the
Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime defines “child pornography” as including “pornographic material that
visually depicts: a) a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; b) a person appearing to be a minor engaged in sexually
explicit conduct; c) realistic images representing a minor engaged in sexually explicit content”. Non-governmental
organizations have also proposed definitions, such as the “visual depiction of a child engaged in explicit sexual conduct,
real or simulated, or the lewd exhibition of the genitals intended for the sexual gratification of the user, and involves
production, distribution and/or use of such material.”44
While the term “child pornography” is still widely used, “child sexual abuse material” has been increasingly used
to describe sexually explicit representations of children, as the term is believed to more accurately reflect the grave nature
of the content and to challenge any notion that such acts might be carried out pursuant to the consent of the child.45 The
COSPOL Internet Related Child Abusive Material Project (CIRCAMP), for example, advocates the notion that “[a] sexual
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44
45
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Subgroup Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children 2005. P. 26.
Ibid. P. 33.
Quayle, E., et al. In: Ainsaar, M., Lööf, L. (eds.). P. 12.
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