Child Pornography on the Internet & the Elusive world of Paedophiles

Research suggests that until the late 1960s, it was rare to find children in pornographic material. However, by the late 1970s, the market for this material had grown substantially and legislation has correspondingly been introduced to address the problem in a number of countries across the world. The question on how to define 'child pornography' though is less than clear cut. For example, different interpretations of what amounts to child pornography are found in different national and regional jurisdictions. Different cultural notions exist on what constitutes an obscene or an image or text that might be seen to constitute an obscene matter to the wider community. Furthermore, another contributory factor to the difficulty in addressing the problem of child pornography is related to those who are involved in the commissioning of the offence as the world of child pornography is made up of different players, such as tourists, pimps, paedophiles and social factors such as poverty, child trafficking and tourism that may force children to become victims of child pornography. Identifying the individuals involved in child pornography however is difficult, as those who exploit children sexually represent a cross section of the larger community, from all walks of life and include highly esteemed members of society. They frequently seek occupations that bring them into habitual contact with children. 1 Commanding respect from peers and supervisors alike and gaining power and authority over children, child exploiters gain protection from society, often appearing charismatic and credible. Questions are now raised on the subject of trust, traditionally vested in teachers, priests, doctors, family members and many others coming into contact with children. 2 Sex offenders are like any other individuals and may be quite ordinary in most ways. It may be difficult to integrate the public persona of sex offenders with the image or idea of them being sexual with children, thus making it a challenge to identify them for the purpose of imposing liability on them as creators of pornography. 3 For that reason, to regulate child pornography, it may require imposing liability on those who facilitate the distribution of the material as well, besides the actual creators of such material. 4 For this reason, this paper includes an analysis of the creator of the material, in particular, that of a 'paedophile' as a possible target for the creation of child pornographic material