of Children Online, government policies in this area are in their infancy.260 Several countries have also devised national strategies or developed policy frameworks which address child protection in the light of new challenges raised by the Internet. These often seek to combine and coordinate measures involving various stakeholders.261 At the national level, efforts to prevent and combat such crimes also require effective interagency coordination.262 In many countries, there may be little to no legal basis for police to take action against child abusers and exploiters if the victim has already reached the legal age of consent, even though the child is still under 18 years of age. Most jurisdictions still set the age of consent for sexual activity below 18 years of age, with the average ranging from 13 to 16 years.263 Importantly, some countries’ laws make the permissibility of sexual intercourse and other related practices dependent on the age difference between partners or on whether the partners are married, whereas others rely on notions such as gauging when a child has reached puberty. Still others do not specify any age of consent at all. To complicate the matter further, countries have different definitions for sexual activity, ranging from kissing to sexual intercourse.264 The definition of “child” in domestic legislation as well as the criminal provisions on sex crimes are critical issues in all matters relating to child protection and combatting child sexual abuse and exploitation. Child sexual abuse material Surprisingly, child sexual abuse material has come to the attention of criminal law only comparatively recently, with laws in countries such as England, Canada and the United States only entering into force in the late 1970s. Laws against child sexual abuse material in most countries are based on the policy position that children should be protected from See also OECD, 2012. Pp. 32-34. In Mauritius, for instance, in order to promote the cooperation and coordination among ministries and institutions in the field of child protection, a protocol of collaboration for the promotion of children’s rights and their protection against abuse, including commercial sexual exploitation, has been signed by relevant stakeholders. Comments from experts, Government of Mauritius, April 2014.; see also OECD, 2012. Pp. 39-44. 262 See also OECD, 2012. P. 47. 263 ECPAT, 2008. Strengthening Laws Addressing Child Sexual Exploitation: A Practical Guide. Pp 47-50. Available at http://www. ecpat.net/sites/default/files/Legal_Instrument_En_Final.pdf. 264 Ibid. commercial sexual activities because they are too young to give informed and thus valid consent.265 States define offences related to child sexual abuse material in varying ways.266 For example, in some countries, (adult) pornography is considered to be an offence against public morals and decency or a violation of public order, and child pornography is punished in that context. Other countries link child pornography to obscenity laws that cover a wide range of different images, only some of which may be illegal.267 A common approach in Western and Northern countries is to criminalize only child sexual abuse material (and not porno­ graphy in general) on the basis of the age, or apparent age, of victims. As indicated in the Cybercrime Study, interests protected by the criminalization of child abuse images include the protection of minors from abuse, and the disruption of commercial markets in child abuse images, that may encourage offenders to seek to produce and supply further images. Although international frameworks demonstrate many similarities with respect to the criminalization of child pornography, differences also relate to the object, age of children and acts covered.268 The Cybercrime Study also found that, at the national level, over 80 per cent of countries responding to the Study questionnaire indicated that child pornography is a criminal offence. The majority of countries reported that computer-related acts are criminalized by way of a general offence.269 As an example, in Mauritius, offences against children can be prosecuted under laws related to, inter alia, rape, sexual intercourse with minors under the age of 16, attempts upon chastity, sodomy, alleged sexual assault, causing a child to be sexually abused, accessing a brothel, child abduction, attempts upon chastity of minors under the age of 12, as well as under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act of 2003.270 260 261 Subgroup Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children, 2005. A/HRC/12/23. 267 UNODC, 2013. 100-104; Subgroup Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children, 2005. Pp. 29. 268 UNODC, 2014. Pp. 100-104. 269 Ibid. 270 Comments from experts, Government of Mauritius, April 2014. 265 266 40 STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ON THE ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN