Child Pornography
Child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry and among the fastest growing businesses online (Who’s looking at child porn). The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children claims that around twenty percent of all porn contains children, the recorded number of abuse of over one million children in the United States. Child pornography refers to images or films depicting sexually explicit activities involving a minor.
Much of the pornography produced and distributed is not criminal and is protected by the first amendment to the constitution. Only when the pornography is considered obscene does it become criminal. Pornographic material that depicts actual juveniles has different statuses under the law and is not subject to protection under the first amendment (Child Pornography: Patterns from NIBRS). The children (all underage juveniles, including teens under the age of eighteen) are deemed as victims.
The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System is one of the few tools that help law enforcement keep track of crimes that involve child exploitation and pornography. With this program, law enforcement agencies could monitor the numbers, locations, and characteristics of such crimes across the nation.
Child pornography laws provide severe penalties in almost all Western societies including imprisonment with shorter sentence durations for non-commercial distribution depending on the content and the extent of the material (Akdeniz). Possession of child porn includes prison sentences that are often converted to probation for the first-time offenders. In 2008, a review of child pornography laws shows that ninety-three countries have no laws that specifically address the issue. Of the ninety-four that do, thirty-six of them do not criminalize possession of child porn regardless of intent (Child pornography not a crime). The United Nations Optimal Protocol on the Rights of the Child requires states to outlaw producing, distributing, disseminating,
Much of the pornography produced and distributed is not criminal and is protected by the first amendment to the constitution. Only when the pornography is considered obscene does it become criminal. Pornographic material that depicts actual juveniles has different statuses under the law and is not subject to protection under the first amendment (Child Pornography: Patterns from NIBRS). The children (all underage juveniles, including teens under the age of eighteen) are deemed as victims.
The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System is one of the few tools that help law enforcement keep track of crimes that involve child exploitation and pornography. With this program, law enforcement agencies could monitor the numbers, locations, and characteristics of such crimes across the nation.
Child pornography laws provide severe penalties in almost all Western societies including imprisonment with shorter sentence durations for non-commercial distribution depending on the content and the extent of the material (Akdeniz). Possession of child porn includes prison sentences that are often converted to probation for the first-time offenders. In 2008, a review of child pornography laws shows that ninety-three countries have no laws that specifically address the issue. Of the ninety-four that do, thirty-six of them do not criminalize possession of child porn regardless of intent (Child pornography not a crime). The United Nations Optimal Protocol on the Rights of the Child requires states to outlaw producing, distributing, disseminating,