Gender While both men and women may participate in child exploitation, male perpetrators tend to constitute the majority of offenders with regard to child sexual abuse material-related conduct, cyberenticement, and cyberstalking. Conversely, certain forms of exploitation including trafficking and cyberbullying can have a high prevalence of female perpetrators. Research suggests that offenders in child sexual abuse material-related conduct are most commonly adult men, operating alone.200 A recent study on child sexual abuse ­material-consumption found, however, that 5.5 per cent of the women sampled had also engaged with such material.201 Some women are also reported to be among the clients of the commercial sex trade, including international sex tourism. Because most research on female sexual abusers has been conducted before the widespread nature of ICTs, however, little is known about current patterns of abuse.202 On the other hand, both men and women commit commercial sexual exploitation of children, though their roles tend to differ depending on the concrete conduct involved. Male commercial sexual exploiters of children tend to be more involved in the “practical” aspects of child abuse and exploitation, as they are usually better able to exert physical force to abduct child victims and to enforce obedience through violence. Men may also forge feigned romantic relationships with young female victims as a means of recruiting them into exploitation. Women, on the other hand, may more commonly engage in the business end of operating commercial sexual exploitation of children enterprises, as well as, in some cases, recruitment of victims through a process of “friendship” and trust-gaining. The vast majority of cyberenticement offenders are male. Though the most common dynamic involves an adult male enticing or soliciting a female victim, victims may be both male and female. Generally, research has concluded that women are seldom the primary actors in child sex abuse, Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R. K., 2004. “Child Pornography: Patterns from NIBRS”, U.S. Department of Justice Juvenile Justice Bulletin; see also Aebi M., et al., 2012. Offender Types and Criminality Dimensions in Male Juveniles Convicted of Sexual Offences. Sexual Abuse. 24: 282. 201 Seigfried-Spellar K. C., Rogers, M. K., 2010. “Low Neuroticism and High Hedonistic Traits for Female Internet Child Pornography Consumers”, Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking 13:634. 202 See Grayson, A., De Luca, R. V., 1999. “Female Perpetrators Of Child Sexual Abuse: A Review Of The Clinical And Empirical Literature”, Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 4:93–106. 200 including cyberenticement, and that those who do participate in such abuse may be motivated by a desire to please male co-actors.203 It is possible, in some contexts, that a low law enforcement priority on detecting and investigating female offending conduct, leads to an underrepresentation of female offending in public perception and crime statistics.204 Harassing behaviour is more gender-neutral, both on- and offline. Men and women may equally engage in offline stalking and in cyberstalking, and can even be just as likely to resort to violence subsequent to harassing behaviour. Victims, especially male victims, of harassment perpetrated by female offenders may be less likely to report victimization, either because of embarrassment or because they do not consider that the harassment constitutes any serious threat to their safety. However, male stalkers are shown to be more likely than women stalkers to ignore rejection by a victim.205 Gender similarly does not constitute a prominent feature in the profile of cyberbullies.206 However, modes of bullying may differ between male and female perpetrators. Whereas it is more common for girls to speak negatively about others, boys are more likely to post negative pictures or videos.207 Age In describing the age range of offenders, it is important to note that research over the last decade has centered on offenders who reached the age of majority before the widespread accessibility of child sexual abuse material on the Internet. As a result, information gaps exist with respect to the impact that Brayley, H., Cockbain, E., 2012. Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation. Available at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/jdibrief/crime/ child-sex-exploitation. 204 See for example, Hendriks J., Bijleveld, C.C.J.H., 2006. Female adolescent sex offenders—An exploratory study. Journal of Sexual Aggression 12:33; Bexson, 2011. “‘The Ultimate Betrayal’. Female Child Sex Offenders”, Internet Journal of Criminology 2011:1-25; see also generally Denov, M. S., 2004. Perspectives on female sex offending: A culture of denial; van der Put, C., van Vugt, E., Stams, G. J., Hendriks, J., 2012. “Psychosocial and Developmental Characteristics of Female Adolescents Who Have Committed Sexual Offences”, Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment 25:41-68; van der Put, C. E., 2013. “The prevalence of risk factors for general recidivism in female adolescent sexual offenders: A comparison of three subgroups”, Child Abuse & Neglect 37:691-697. 205 University of Houston, Stalking and Cyberstalking, Available at http://www.uh.edu/wrc/safety-and-violence-prevention/ stalking%20/index.php. 206 Görzig, A., 2011. Who bullies and who is bullied online?: a study of 9-16 year old Internet users in 25 European countries. EU Kids Online network. P. 5. 207 Cyberbullying Research Center, Research in Review (20042010). Available at http://www.cyberbullying.us/research.php. 203 30 STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ON THE ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN