Pandemic on the internet: under-aged children trapped in the booming Canadian pornographic industry.

Many people are unaware of an alarming epidemic of child sexual abuse images that has besieged our internet space in the name modern day pornography.

The Canadian Center for Child Protection summarized this cruel reality in a recent publication, which was put together after about 152,000 reports and 43,762 unique images and videos were examined. Here are the key findings:[1]

• 78% of the images and videos assessed depicted very young, PRE-PUBESCENT children under 12 years old.
• 63% of those children under 12 years old appeared to be under 8 years of age.
• 7% of those children under 8 years old appeared to be babies or toddlers.
• 80% of the children were girls.
• 77% of the children’s faces were visible in the images and videos.
• 50% of the images and videos involved explicit sexual activity/assaults and extreme sexual assaults.
• 54% of the abuse acts against children under 12 years old involved explicit sexual activity/assaults and extreme sexual assaults.
• 60% of the abuse acts against babies and toddlers involved explicit sexual activity/assaults and extreme sexual assaults.
• 69% of the images and videos appeared to be in a home setting, of which 70% captured explicit sexual activity/assaults and extreme sexual assaults.
• 83% of the adults visible in the images and videos were males.
• 97% of the content involved explicit sexual activity/assaults and extreme sexual assaults when adult males were visible with the children in the images and video.

The United States is no different – the internet is overrun with images of child sexual abuse.[2]  In 1998, there were over 3,000 reports of child sexual abuse images online. The number increased to 1 million in 2014, 18.4 million in 2018, and over 45 million in 2019.

 

Awareness: More Canadians need to know

Sadly, these findings are indicative of child rape on screen and underscores the need to identify the children in the images and videos, stop their abusers, and restrain the availability and continued distribution of the content. To achieve this, one of the recommendations made by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection is to create public awareness so that Canadians can report this issue more.

This article is a means of creating awareness on this troubling issue that affects our most vulnerable population.

Severe damage to children’s mental and physical health

Many people seem to be oblivious to the strong prevalence and traumatic impact of pornography, and sometimes categorize it as a victimless crime. However, many of the participants have not provided consent especially in the case of children. New York Times recently published stories of exploitation and trauma suffered by young victims in the hands a Canadian company who prides itself as a leading porn producer in the world.[3]  The Montreal-based porn company was described as monetizing child assault.

This is a child protection and societal issue, as it is illegal to host or disseminate child pornography in Canada. It’s also a health issue as the mental and physical health of the abused children will be severely affected.

What will you do?

One person who is talking and taking active steps on this issue in the Canadian MP Arnold Vierson of Peace River -Westlock, Alberta. To receive updates directly from him on how you can be of help in combating this issue, send an email request to Arnold.viersen.a2@parl.gc.ca

 

Esther Ekpe

 

 

[1] https://protectchildren.ca/en/resources-research/child-sexual-abuse-images-report/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-abuse.html

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html