E/CN.15/2014/CRP.1
Research on offline sexual abuse is also important in understanding cyber-enticement.220 In research on juvenile
sex abusers, exposure to intra-family violence appears to have important predictive value. Children who witness and
experience violence including domestic violence seem to be at a particularly high risk- of engaging in sexual abuse
conduct in the future. It is possible that these “experiences of physical violence and the breaching of personal boundaries
by assault may in some way give permission for the young person to go on to inflict sexual violence on another child”.221
Studies on bullying in general demonstrate a cluster of behavioural problems in bullies, including aggression. A
2011 comparison of traditional and online bullies found that people who bully offline tend to resort to cyber-bullying in
order to amplify the impact on their victims.222 Research indicates that cyber-bullies exhibit poor psycho-social skills that
result in evident problems at school and other behavioural deficits, which may also at least in part explain the dynamics by
which victims become aggressors.223 Poor social functioning results in bullying especially when more vulnerable targets
are encountered. Offenders may also tend to see aggression as an acceptable solution for problems and be more likely to
use drugs and alcohol224. Those who suffer from cyber-bullying and also engage in bullying others are shown to be the
heaviest substance abusers.225 Likewise, victims of solicitation are, on average, twice as likely to report substance use.226
Technological sophistication
One typology of child sexual abuse material offenders is based on their level of technical expertise. Here, the
least aggressive offenders are “simple viewers, who are primarily driven by curiosity and rarely download, save or trade
child sexual abuse material with others.” Next on the continuum are “open traders”, motivated by the desire to add to their
collections of child sexual abuse material. Open traders use tight security, though not as extreme as “closed traders”, who
are more committed to guaranteeing their continued access to such material. Closed traders may try to eliminate
undercover law enforcement agents by insisting that new traders in a community site upload child sexual abuse material
before they are allowed full access. Closed traders tend to form close bonds with other child sexual abuse material
offenders with whom they engage in online forums and other virtual communities. Finally, the “experts” make up the most
committed set of child sexual abuse material offenders in this typology. These offenders tend to have long histories of
active engagement in child sexual abuse material possession and trading and are highly skilled and diligent about security
measures in order to evade detection.227
As concerns other offences, cyber-stalkers are typically highly sophisticated technical users, deploying the same
tactics that criminals use to commit other cyber-crimes, including identity theft or hacking. These techniques enable them
to obtain private information about their targets, such as home addresses and dates of birth. Cyber-stalkers develop
expertise on using such information together with other online sources to accumulate yet more information about their
victims. Research on cyber-bullying reveals associations between cyber-bullying, technological proficiency and the
__________________
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
Wolak, J., 2013. Commentary at the Informal Expert Group Meeting on the Effects of Information and Communication
Technologies on the Abuse and Exploitation of Children. Vienna. September 23, 2013 through September 26, 2013.
Vizard, E., 2013. Practitioner Review: The victims and juvenile perpetrators of child sexual abuse –assessment and
intervention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54:507.
Sontag, L. M., et al., 2011. Traditional and Cyber Aggressors and Victims: A Comparison of Psychosocial Characteristics.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40:392-404.
See e.g. Görzig, A., 2011.
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 2008. P. 28. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
See The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, 2008. P. 42-43.
Mitchell, K. J., Ybarra, M., Finkelhor, D., 2007.The Relative Importance of Online Victimization in Understanding
Depression, Delinquency, and Substance Use. Child Maltreatment 12: 320.
Aiken, M., Moran M., Berry, M., 2011. Child abuse material and the Internet: Cyberpsychology of online child related sex
offending. Paper presented at the 29th Meeting of the INTERPOL Specialist Group on Crimes against Children Lyons, France
5-7th September 2011. Available at
http://scholar.google.at/scholar_url?hl=de&q=http://www.interpol.int/en,%2520%2520%25D0%25B2%25D0%25AD%2520%
2520%2520%2520%2520%2520%25D0%2590%2520%2520%2520%2520%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B3/content/download/12
909/88921/version/2/file/Child_abuse_Interpol_conference_paper.pdf&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm1MWAzytR3K9spr5N_MaNXrG8vPg&oi=scholarr&ei=vSNZU67LGuuy7AbunoGQBQ&ved=0CDIQgAMoADAA ; see also, D. Greenfield,
Clinical Treatment of Internet and Digitally-enabled Compulsive Behaviour (2010). Available at http://www.virtualaddiction.com/pages/documents/ ClinicalTreatmentofInternet-SpainChapter_000.pdf.
V.14-03040
33