Online Exploitation, Stalking, and Obscenity: Protecting Youth in a Digital World

1. Chapter 7 Exploitation, Stalking, and Obscenity on the WWW

2. Nature of Exploitation on the Internet Estimates are that 20 – 30,000 of Sri Lanka’s child prostitutes are boys who are “rented” to tourist pedophiles. Several other countries tolerant of child sex trade of young boys include the Dominican Republican, Haiti, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia

3. Incidence and Prevalence of Victimization on Line • Youth Internet Safety Survey by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children • The results indicated that approximately one in five received a sexual solicitation or approach over the internet in the last year • one in 33 receiving an aggressive sexual solicitation

4. Incidence and Prevalence of Victimization on Line One in four had an unwanted exposure to pictures of naked people or people having sex in the last year One in 17 was threatened or harassed, and approximately one quarter of the respondents who reported these incidents were distressed by them Less than 10% of sexual solicitations and only 3% of unwanted exposures were reported to authorities

5. Incidence and Prevalence of Victimization on Line • Demographics regarding the types of youths that were targeted for sexual solicitations and approaches: • Girls were targeted at almost twice the rate of boys (66% v. 34%) • More than ¾ of targeted youth were age 14 or older (77%) • Only 22% were ages 10 – 13, but this younger group was disproportionately distressed • Almost all were persons the youth originally met on line (97%)

6. Incidence and Prevalence of Victimization on Line • Adults were responsible for 24% of sexual solicitations and 34% of the aggressive solicitations • Most of the adult solicitors were reported to be ages 18 – 25. about 4% of all solicitors were known to be older than 25 • Juveniles made 48% of the overall and 48% of the aggressive solicitations • 70% of the aggressive solicitations from males • 25% from females

7. Stalking Via the WWW • Stalking is most often defined as the willful or intentional commission of • a series of acts • that would cause a reasonable person to fear death or serious bodily injury and • that places the victim in fear of death or serious bodily injury • Most stalking laws are broad enough to encompass stalking via e-mail or other electronic communication

8. Dynamics and Nature of Stalking and Cyberstalking • Most stalkers employed the following tactics : • Followed, spied on, stood outside home or place of work (82%) • Made unwanted phone calls (61%) • Sent unwanted letters or left unwanted items (30%) • Vandalized property (30%) • Killed or threatened to kill a pet (9%)

9. Dynamics and Nature of Stalking and Cyberstalking • The reasons for under-reporting: • Victims do not consider the behavior dangerous • Victims so not know that what is happening is a crime • Victims believe that little can be done about the stalking • Victims may feel embarrassed or want to keep the offense secret for some other reason

10. Dynamics and Nature of Stalking and Cyberstalking • Approximately 200,000 people are stalked each year in the U.S.; • empirical research surveying adults estimated that 1.4 million Americans (approximately 1,000,000 women and 400,000 men) are currently being stalked in the U.S.

11. Anonimity Most people using electronic forms of communication are much more brazen than they would be face to face This is most likely due to the perceived anonymity of the internet and are far away from each other physically

12. Cyberstalking Tactics • Cyberstalkers employ a variety of tactics: • sending unsolicited hateful, • obscene, or threatening e-mail or • harassing the victim in on line chat rooms • create postings about the victim or start rumors which spread through the bulletin board system

13. Cyberstalking Tactics • Cyberstalkers may also set up a web page on the victim • Assume the victim’s persona on line • More complex forms of harassment include • mail bombs, • sending the victim computer viruses an • sending electronic junk mail

14. Characteristics of Stalkers • Most stalkers are typically • male (87%), • white (80%), • between the ages of 18 and 35 (50%), and • are of average intelligence earning above-average incomes

15. Characteristics of Victims • Most stalking victims are • women (78%), • white (83%), • between the ages of 18 and 39 (74%), and are married (59%) • The majority of stalkers and their victims (60%) had a personal relationship before the stalking began

16. Characteristics of Stalkers and Their Victims Comprising the largest group of estimated stalkers (47% – 60%), simple obsessional stalkers typically involve a victim and a perpetrator who have a prior relationship The second largest category of stalkers (43%) is the love obsession type, where no prior relationship exists

17. Characteristics of Stalkers and Their Victims The third category is referred to as erotomaniacs, meaning that the stalker believes that the victim is in love with them Example: Best known case with David Letterman – a woman is found hiding in his closet and believed she was his wife. She was caught trespassing on his property

18. Characteristics of Stalkers and Their Victims Another developed category is the vengeance or terrorist stalker They attempt to elicit a particular response or a change of behavior from their victims

19. Laws and Legislation Protecting Children On Line • There are numerous state laws that prohibit the possession, manufacturing, distribution, and sale of child pornography • In many instances, simple possession is a felony. • The photos themselves are contraband.

20. Laws and Legislation Protecting Children On Line • Child Online Protection Act (COPA) prohibits anyone by means of a commercial web site from knowingly making a communication that is “harmful to minors” available to minors under 17 years of age for commercial purposes • misdemeanor authorizing up to 6 months’ imprisonment and a $50,000 fine for each violation. • The Attorney General is authorized to collect a $50,000 civil penalty for each violation

21. Child Pornography Pedophiles use child pornography for profit and satisfaction Habitual child molesters categorize their collections in a sophisticated and elaborate way and typically possess a variety of child pornography in several media forms. The pedophile also typically keeps an annotated journal or diary to record molestations and other details of their crimes

23. The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) • The NAMBLA supports the rights of all people to engage in consensual relations, and we oppose laws which destroy loving relationships merely on the basis of the age of the participants. • Registration anyone?

24. The “New” Child Pornographers • Pedophiles now use the internet for four primary purposes: • Trafficking child pornography • Locating children to molest • Engaging in inappropriate sexual communication with children • Communicating with other pedophiles

25. Moving from Pornography to Molestation • 42% reported the use of pornography either immediately prior to or during commission of the act. • Between 77% and 87% of convicted child molesters used pornography. • to stimulate themselves • to lower the inhibitions of the child victim, or • to teach the child to model the activity in real-life sexual encounters

26. Moving from Pornography to Molestation • Pedophiles use child pornography for several reasons: • For personal sexual stimulation • To reduce the inhibitions of the child • As an instructional tool • For barter, trade, or sale • To blackmail the child

27. Child Molestation • An estimated 89,000 cases of child sexual abuse were substantiated in 2000. • Over 100,000 cases of child sexual abuse were substantiated in 2008. • A phone survey of 2,000 children between the ages of 10 and 16 revealed that 3.2% of girls and .6% of boys had suffered, at some point in their lives, sexual abuse involving physical contact • The overwhelming majority of child victims are abused by someone they know, or a family member

28. Sex Tourism • The practice of men from Western countries visiting developing or third world nations for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity that is • illegal in their home country or • that they don’t want to be discovered committing in their home county • The internet is a primary facilitator of the sex tourism industry

29. The Process of Sex Tourism • Sex tourists are generally divided into two groups: • Preferential abusers • The pedophiles have clear and definite sexual preferences for children. • Situational abusers • Pedophiles have not planned to have commercial sex while abroad, but took the opportunity when it presented itself.

30. The Process of Sex Tourism • Interview from a sex tourist: • “I’m helping them financially,” he says. “If they don’t have sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has a problem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them. I’ve never paid more than $20 to these young women, and that allows them to eat for a week.”

31. The Process of Sex Tourism • Countries traditionally connected with child sex tourism,: • Thailand, • Philippines, • Sri Lanka, and • Taiwan • all have serious child prostitution problems • Tourist agencies actively campaign to entice travelers to visit their countries for sex with young women and boys.