The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
A thesis submitted to the Center for Global Affairs at New York University in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Global Affairs
By: Ericka Carolina Rodas
Concentration: Human Rights and International Law
Thesis Advisor: Sylvia Maier, Ph.D.
New York, NY
Spring, 2014
Acknowledgements:
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Sylvia Maier for her extensive guidance and
support throughout the research and writing of this project. I would also like to extend my thanks to the
staff and board of ECPAT-USA for having offered me an internship opportunity for the academic year
2013-2014. I was able to conduct research through ECPAT-USA and had access to existing knowledge in
the field which contributed significantly to the writing of this thesis.
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Appeal of the Internet for Traffickers and Buyers ........................................................................................ 5
Appeal of Internet to Children and Teens..................................................................................................... 5
Advances in Technology................................................................................................................................ 7
How Should One Refer to the Criminals Who Engage in this Crime? ........................................................... 9
Cyber -Sex-Trafficking: As Harmful as “Traditional” Sex Trafficking ........................................................... 12
Type of Services to be Given Child Sex-Trafficking Victims and Potential Victims ..................................... 18
How Can the U.S. Limit Access to Pornographic and Sexually Explicit Material of Children without
Violating the Right of Free Speech? ............................................................................................................ 27
How Can Civil Society Be More Involved in Reducing this Crime? ............................................................. 39
Trauma Effects on Children-Boys Can be Victims Too- Eliminating Gender Bias ....................................... 64
Viewing pornography and child abuse imagery by youth affects their future relationships and their
development ............................................................................................................................................... 66
What to do When the Perpetrator is the Child’s Parent and the Buyer is a Teenager?............................. 68
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 69
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 71
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
Introduction
In the year 2014, human trafficking is still prevalent. Traffickers around the world abuse
vulnerable individuals and rob them of their freedom to be safe from harm despite the
international and national laws that are in place. In particular, sex trafficking, a subset of human
trafficking is a form of discrimination in which people in power, typically men, take advantage
of the vulnerabilities of women and children— though men are also victims—to exploit them for
their services, whether for labor and/or sex. In addition, deception, fraud, force, and coercion are
often used to recruit victims (UNODC 2000, Article 3(a)) although that should not be the main
factor when investigating and prosecuting these crimes; for children proof of the threat or use of
force or coercion is not required. Already a hidden crime due to the difficulty of identifying the
traffickers and victims, the advances in internet technology have offered traffickers a new
mechanism to escape detection from law enforcement. Internet offers affordability, accessibility,
and anonymity –the “Triple-A Engine Effect” (Manning 2006, 133). Shawn Henry, former
Executive Assistant Director of the FBI informed the public that the Internet, despite its
contribution to knowledge, has many setbacks. “At any given time, there are an estimated
750,000 child predators online — and they all have a key to your house via the Internet” (FBI
News Video 2011, Shawn Henry). As a result, it is time for individuals to be more cognizant of
the importance of internet safety in order to combat cyber-sex trafficking.
In May 2013, the use of the Internet to facilitate sex trafficking came to the fore again
with the case in the Philippines in which three girls were rescued from a ring forcing them to
perform live sex shows via the Internet for customers. Often the customers-- mostly Americans
and Europeans--paid $56/minute for the girls to perform live sexual acts (web-cam sex) based on
the customers’ typed requests transmitted via computers (de Leon 2013). In the case of the three
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
girls, who were eight years old when the abuse started, U.S. agencies, the Philippine National
Police and the non-profit Visayan Forum Foundation received tips on one of their frequent
customers, Jeffrey Herschell from Washington, Pennsylvania with the help of the victims. This
information helped law enforcement arrest and sentence the offender to 12 years in federal prison
(Coorlim 2013).
The methods of recruitment of the victims resemble that of “traditional” sex trafficking.
Traffickers prey on an individual’s poverty, runaways, kidnapped children, and individuals from
abusive homes. Also, traffickers rely on a child’s negligent use of the Internet to lure them into
their dangerous world; children often do not realize that safety precautions should be used on
online because they think it is a safe place to share one’s personal information. It grants its users
mobility and the ability to use more than one mobile device, thereby making it borderless and
difficult for law enforcement to prosecute traffickers and buyers. Moreover, if the sexual
encounter is not recorded, it will be difficult to trace the IP address and to prove that a crime has
been committed.
Since this is a relatively new phenomenon there is no standard definition for this besides
“cyber mediated crime” (Davis 2012, 276) or “child abuse imagery” (Smolenski 2013, 2). I will
be examining cases and laws in the Philippines, a source country, and the United States as a
source, transit, and destination country; these two countries are reflective of where current
demand and supply originate for this heinous crime. The Philippines is more advanced in its
human trafficking law since it added Section 3g: Sex Tourism, Section 3h: Sexual Exploitation
and Section 3j: pornography facilitated by “whatever means” in Republic Act 10364 of 2012.
The U.S. however, failed to enact House Resolution 2801 on Internet Facilitated Human
Trafficking introduced in September 2011. This is may have been caused by lack of
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
understanding of the issue. The committee chair of the House Energy and Commerce House
Judiciary has not given approval to refer the bill to move past the committee. With the ever
increasing importance and use of the Internet, child rights advocates hope that this Bill will be
passed and approved in Congress; it would establish a task force for the study of the causes and
effects of this crime and produce an effective response and prevention methods.
Questions that will be answered in this project are the following: How can we redefine
cyber-sex trafficking in order to make it a crime “worthy” of being investigated? Law
enforcement is often concerned with traditional crimes and might not have the resources
necessary to investigate and prosecute the crime. Traffickers have modified their methods of
recruitment and business with potential buyers. As they realized that law enforcement began
monitoring the streets, they started to use the Internet as a means to facilitate their illegal activity
since it guarantees anonymity of the user. Therefore, law enforcement needs to be informed and
trained on cyber-sex trafficking to be able to combat it effectively; otherwise traffickers will
continue to sexually exploit children online with impunity.
2. Given the failure of U.S. Congress at present to enact H.R. 2730 “Strengthening the Child
Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act of 2011” and H.R. 2801 “E-SAFETI Task Force
Act” how can the U.S. limit access to pornographic and sexually explicit material of children
without violating the right of free speech enshrined in the 1st Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution?
3. How can the U.S. and the Philippines collaborate with different sectors of civil society:
parents, educators, children themselves, and law enforcement (including adequate resources) to
prevent this crime from happening in the first place?
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
Appeal of the Internet for Traffickers and Buyers
With progress comes technological innovation. Although this is great news for our fastpaced society, it also allows traffickers to recruit victims on social media sites such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Skype, Snapchat, and Oovoo among many others by gaining their
trust by posing as a child/teen with similar interests and problems. With the internet and social
media, one does not necessarily have to have access to a computer to speak with an online friend;
that can be done with smartphones, iPads, iPods, and tablets, as well as anywhere there is Wi-Fi
access. Therefore, it is difficult for law enforcement to identify traffickers, buyers, and victims if
there is no constancy in the device used. Furthermore, the danger of live transmissions of sex
acts is that it is not recorded. By the time law enforcement arrive at the scene, the crime would
have already been committed and the trafficker/buyer can easily deny that any harm has been
committed. Law enforcement would have to catch them in the act but that would require
knowing the inside details of the arrangement and/or would have to find direct communication:
e-mails, phone calls, or texts between traffickers and buyers confirming the operation and
payment details. The Internet guarantees safety to traffickers and buyers because it is borderless,
as already stated, and individuals can presume many identities. In order to defeat them,
technological innovations need to advance in law enforcement’s favor.
Appeal of Internet to Children and Teens
In addition, the Internet’s anonymity has led it to be a favorite source of communication
among youth. This resonates especially with those who feel socially excluded in society or who
are introverted. Hence, unfortunately a youth feels at home while on the various internet
platforms rather than the actual home. Jan Willem Duyvendak, in his book The Politics of Home
argues that individuals from all societies struggle to feel at home somewhere. When they do find
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
a place that they identify as home, they might personalize it only to find that they do not belong
there (CGA Lecture November 4, 2013). The traffickers use this need to feel at home to target
children who come from a troubled family life, poverty, abusive homes, and runaways.
Moreover, social media sites and chat rooms often pressure individuals, especially youth
to assume a different identity in order to please others and to gain popularity. Nancy Baym in
Personal Connections in the Digital Age notes, “In many online environments, people seek to
individualize themselves as different from the other participants (Baym 2010, 108). Therefore,
the lack of internet barriers when communicating contributes to the lack of internet safety
practices by youth. In particular, “When friends in an SNS can be strangers, admirers,
confidants, coworkers, family, and a host of other relationship types, yet all be called same thing
on site, it triggers inevitable confusion” (Baym 2010, 145).
Furthermore, the Internet is appealing to youth because they are able to meet many
people online with similar and different interests. They are fast to judge that they can befriend
someone solely because they like the same artist or actor. For a child who has trouble socializing
at school and in society in general, this provides ample opportunity to feel accepted and to be
taken advantage of by traffickers. Perpetrators offer a sense of security and affection to youth
who need it; they learn the various likes and dislikes of their targeted victims and pretend to have
undergone the same experiences as them to gain their trust. As it is argued, “When people meet
one another online, especially in media with few identifying cues, they often seem to like one
another more than they would if they had met in person” (Baym 2010,126). With the Internet,
there is not the pressure to say the right thing right away because there is time for reflection. One
can respond to a Facebook message hours to a day later and one will not question it.
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
As a result, youth in particular do not question the identity of individuals on the web,
leading them to befriend others without any demonstrable urgency to verify this information. As
noted by Dombrowski, Gischlar, and Durst, “Participants sometimes consider these online
friends to be closer and more accepting of their true selves” (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 158).
When there are direct face to face first time encounters there exists a greater sense of security
and safety; this is due to the fact that there is a human element that is absent in online
communications which is filled with words and pictures on the screen. The anonymity of the
Internet is beneficial to the perpetrator. Dombrowski et al. argue “as these networks were
developed to obscure the identity of participants, they offer effective anonymity for those who
wish to disseminate pornography” (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 158).
Advances in Technology
Since traffickers often use more than one mobile device to escape detection, law
enforcement needs all the help it can receive from technology experts. Recently, on November
4, 2013, Terre des Hommes in the Netherlands devised a creative way to catch online predators
who engage in webcam child sex tourism. They established a 3-D model of a Filipino girl
nicknamed Sweetie to chat with predators online. The traffickers and buyers truly believed
Sweetie was an actual ten year-old girl and sent sexually explicit messages in an attempt to
further the encounter. This mechanism of using technology before the trafficker harms a child is
innovative and makes the day where all children will be safe from sexual exploitation closer
(Terre des Hommes 2013). Moreover, it demonstrates the increase in awareness of the issue and
the ability from individuals in the technology sector to collaborate with law enforcement to
facilitate the tracking down of perpetrators. It also demonstrates the naivety of traffickers who
perceived Sweetie to be real and continued to chat with her unsuspectingly.
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
In addition, the U.S. based NGO THORN represents another technology based
organization that will help law enforcement. The organization partners with nonprofits and
academic institutions to study the role technology plays in child sex trafficking and online
exploitation. The THORN Technology Task Force consists of more than twenty technology
companies including Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo which share their
company’s latest innovations to develop tools to identify both victims and perpetrators (THORN
2014, “Task Force”).With that shared information on best practices, THORN strives to catch the
offenders and identify victims at the source (THORN 2013, “Tech Task Force” 0:55).
THORN’s Shared Hash initiative allows for technology companies to disseminate
information on child pornography by sharing digital fingerprints of abuse images via a cloudbased tool. As a result, the identification, removal, and reporting of child pornography to law
enforcement are increased (THORN 2014). Moreover, its deterrence program, led by technology
experts, seeks to discourage individuals from sexually exploiting children. Ron Conway,
Founder of SV Angel and Founder of the THORN Tech Task Force explains, “The software that
we put in place deters these perpetrators from taking action. We go and we message them and
encourage them to go seek help” (THORN 2013, “Our Work—Deterrence” 0:48).
As of September 2013, Homeland Security Investigations from ICE collaborated with
Operation Predator to create this new smartphone application in which people can report tips on
unknown or fugitive predators 24/7 by phone or online. Representatives from ICE report,
The Operation Predator App enables those who download it to receive alerts about
wanted predators, to share the information with friends via email and social media tools,
and to provide information to HSI by calling or submitting an online tip. Additionally, the
app enables users to view news about arrests and prosecutions of child predators and
additional resources about ICE and its global partners in the fight against child
exploitation (ICE News Release 2013).
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
Although this is great news, International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA) recently shared
that traffickers are getting smart and are avoiding law enforcement by the new phenomenon of
“chatlining.” They have realized that law enforcement and the anti-trafficking community are
monitoring their activities on the Internet and therefore, they have found a safe method of
communication. Traffickers and perpetrators use cell phones to complete business transactions.
Traffickers will only reveal the age of victim and if the buyer is interested he will respond with
buying price. If trafficker agrees on price, they will agree on a meeting place (“Responding to
Child Trafficking in Westchester County Agenda” IOFA Training September 25-27, 2013).
The International Organization for Adolescents is also currently in the process of piloting
a scientifically validated screening tool to identify child victims of sex and labor trafficking. This
is part of the Child Right Model: Building the Child Welfare Response to Child Trafficking;
there still exists a stigma to sex trafficking victims, even if they are minors. Therefore, there is an
urgent need to have all victims treated as victims and not as criminals (IOFA Conference,
January 28, 2014).
How Should One Refer to the Criminals Who Engage in this Crime?
Should these types of offenders, who violate the freedom and dignity of children, be
referred to as pedophiles or child molesters? Kenneth V. Lanning argues that society should not
use the term interchangeably. He defines pedophilia as “a diagnostic term referring to persons
with recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving prepubescent
children…” (Lanning 2012, 74). Furthermore, he clearly states that “a child molester is an
individual who sexually molests children. A pedophile might have a sexual preference for
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
children and fantasize about having sex with them, but if he does not act this fantasy out, he is
not a child molester (Lanning 2012, 74).
Although one can understand these distinctions, how can one ensure that both pedophiles
and child molesters receive the help they need to avoid harming children? Furthermore, how
does one categorize those individuals who only engage in sexually explicit conversations with
young children and/or ask the child to perform sexually explicit acts via the webcam? Even
though there is not any physical touching involved it is as if the encounter was held in person.
The child is sexually molested by words and being ordered to perform sexual acts. He or she
feels ashamed, scared, and distrustful of adults in general; the same effects as in traditional
sexual exploitation cases.
Therefore, the term child molester has to be employed in cases involving computers and
the Internet as well. Otherwise, it will signify to internet “abusers” that this behavior is
acceptable and an easy alternative to physical molestation and harm. The community, especially
law enforcement, social service providers, and educators need to send the message that children
are not to be harmed in any form. If they are aware that the community is being vigilant they will
think twice before resorting to the Internet. It is never acceptable to endanger the welfare of the
child regardless of the circumstances. Children have their entire lives ahead of them and it would
be unjust to deny them their dignity and freedom.
However, the situation becomes complicated when the alleged pedophile and/or molester
has himself/herself been a victim of sexual abuse/pornography when younger. Should they be
considered less “guilty” because they themselves have been victimized? Or should they be
considered just as guilty as or guiltier than the traditional offender because they should have
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
known better? This question is currently up to debate with the case of former chief of staff to
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) Ryan Loskarn. Law enforcement arrested the
seemingly law-abiding Loskarn on December 11, 2013 at his home for possession of child
pornography. Officials reported to have found two hundred child pornographic videos on his
hard drive (Sullum 2014, 1-2). Many citizens quickly questioned the motives behind Loskarn’s
actions. Criticism towards the former chief of staff also was rampant in many conversations. The
increased emphasis on this case originated in the fact that Loskarn violated the law despite being
a representative of the law. Many expressed their shock in comments such as “He should have
known better. What’s wrong with him? How can it be? He’s a chief of staff.”
These commentaries are common among children’s rights advocates who simply cannot
understand why anyone would harm a child intentionally or non-intentionally. However, the
answer is not always as simple as it seems and should serve as a lesson for children’s rights
advocates. As evidenced by law enforcement that arrested Loskarn, he did not actually produce
the child pornography; he only downloaded and viewed it on his computer; that in and of itself is
considered a less severe crime since there has not been any in-person contact. He faced up to
eight years in prison for simple possession and viewing of child pornography (Sullum 2014, 2).
Nevertheless, the United States finally found the cause behind the former chief of staff’s
actions on January 23, 2014 when he took his life. In a suicide note he explained that he did not
intentionally seek child pornographic images on the Internet. It started with a simple search for
music on a peer-to-peer network. The reason why he did not report it when he first came across
it? “I found myself drawn to videos that matched my own childhood abuse. It’s painful and
humiliating to admit to myself, let alone the whole world, but I pictured myself as a child in the
image or video. The more an image mirrored some element of my memories and took me back,
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
the more I felt a connection” (Jesse Ryan Loskarn 2014, 1). Unable to overcome his childhood
sexual abuse as a child, Loskarn found some strange comfort viewing child pornography. For
him, it represented a form of connecting with the abused children because he felt their pain and
also was a form of healing for him in some matter since he never revealed his childhood abuse
before speaking with his psychiatric counselor in prison. Ryan Loskarn himself recognized that
his abuse did not justify his actions but rather provided an explanation. Perhaps the healthcare
community should devise better ways to help child abuse victims “heal.” His apology to the
children he hurt is touching. “And last, to the children in the images: I should have known better.
I perpetuated your abuse and that will be a burden on my soul for the rest of my life” (Jesse Ryan
Loskarn 2014, 2). The lesson from this tragic story is that legislation should be reformed to
assign prison sentences according to the gravity of the crime committed. Viewing and/or
distributing child pornography is a crime but not as serious as meeting a potential victim online
and luring them to engage in sexual activities either through webcam or in-person.
Cyber -Sex-Trafficking: As Harmful as “Traditional” Sex Trafficking
Cyber-sex-trafficking is a relatively new phenomenon which requires more in-depth
study in order to increase and ameliorate prevention efforts. As a result, this illegal act is known
by many terms: cyber-sex-trafficking, child webcam sex tourism, or even “internet-facilitated
sex-trafficking” (H.R. 2801, Introduced September 6, 2011). What these terms have in common
is the reference to the Internet. The difference with previous years is that in addition to being
able to sell children on websites such as Backpage.com, traffickers can now provide to their
clients child sexual services via live transmissions such as webcam, various chat rooms, and
social media outlets.
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
The message needs to be made to law enforcement officials and representatives that this
is not a crime that occurs occasionally. It happens every day on several electronic devices,
especially if the perpetrator does not record or save the encounter. The internet task force
mentioned in H.R 2801 to study and make recommendations for the prevention of this crime is
an excellent strategy; nevertheless, it is essential that more components be included in the
definition of internet-facilitated human trafficking.
Currently, H.R. 2801 defines internet-facilitated human trafficking as “the use of the
internet to engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons” (H.R. 2801, 2011, G (1)). This
definition is an excellent foundation but needs more in-depth explanation. It does not define the
many ways that the Internet can be used to condone and promote the commercial sexual
exploitation of children. Paragraph 1 of the definition can include “Internet used to exclusively
sell children online to potential buyers.” Part 2 can include “Internet used to engage in sexually
explicit conversations and/or sexual acts via the Internet (webcams, social media, and chat
rooms).” Furthermore, Paragraph 3 of the definition can include “use of the Internet to view
and/or distribute child pornography. This does not necessarily include use of the Internet to
engage in sexual explicit activities via webcam and/or chat. That is included in Paragraph 2 of
this definition.”
With this extended and detailed definition, society is better prepared to respond to
potential and actual cases of internet-facilitated human trafficking. The Internet could be misused
in many ways just as it could prove to be useful for benevolent purposes. The internet task force,
if it launches, will be able to analyze these three components of the definition and find different
and common characteristics for each. In addition, the various sectors represented in this potential
internet task force will offer many suggestions and opportunities for improvement in the
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
response to this crime, especially in terms of technology innovation. The goal for this task force
is to “study and make recommendations to prevent internet-facilitated human trafficking” (H.R.
2801, 2011, Section 2(a)). The twenty members of the task force include representatives from
the Department of State, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families,
Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Secretary of State, companies fighting human
trafficking, one of which represents an internet company, non-profit organizations, academic
institutions, State Attorney General’s office, a victim of severe forms of human trafficking, and
members from the public or private sectors (H.R. 2801 2011, Section 2(b)). These
representatives from different sectors of society will bring their individual expertise to reduce
cases of human trafficking facilitated by the Internet. It is also assumed that this task force will
seek to educate youth on internet safety as part of their recommendations to prevent this crime. A
multi-prong approach is needed to prevent internet- facilitated human trafficking. One can catch
the predators in action, but youth need to be educated and empowered as well in order to
dissuade traffickers from recruiting them. The ever evolving technologies today require a task
force that is cognizant of all changes and updates in technology in order to outsmart the
traffickers.
In turn, the response to human trafficking of minors needs to be improved in general as
well. There is this general misconception that anyone who engages in sexual activity of any kind,
including prostitution is guilty. This perception is dangerous as it does not take into
consideration the many causes of human trafficking discussed previously. Not every individual
willingly engages in prostitution. For children, it is never a free choice. They are essentially
robbed of their freedom and dignity. A child does not have the capacity to understand and to
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
consent to sex. Protecting children should be the priority of every citizen but especially that of
law enforcement, social service providers, educators, and health care providers. An attempt has
been made in Congress to ameliorate the child welfare response to human trafficking in H.R.
2730. Originally introduced in August 1, 2011, and referred to the House Ways and Means
Committee, it still needs to be passed by the full Congress. Stephanie Richard, Policy and Legal
Services Director, at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking argued that “The United
States government needs to do better at utilizing existing state resources to combat modern-day
slavery in our own backyards. HR 2730, as introduced by Representative Bass will assist both
labor and sex trafficked children be identified and provided specialize assistance by our State
child welfare agencies” (U.S. Representative Karen Bass Press Release 2011). However, Faiza
Mathon-Mathieu, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations at ECPAT-USA explains
that the process for new legislation to become law can be long
There has been a growing interest in legislation that would address the role
between the child welfare system and child trafficking, specifically child sex
trafficking. In the most recent session, the 113th Congress had two child welfare
focused child trafficking bills under consideration in the House and the Senate.
Both the Senate and the House Finance and Ways and Means committees
respectively passed in mark-up one of the bills that extends protections to child
sex trafficking victims in the child welfare system. This is quite significant
progress (Mathon-Mathieu 2014).
This act if passed will focus on both preventing and responding effectively to cases of
child trafficking. Section Two of the Act calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
develop effective guidelines for child welfare agencies to identify a potential child trafficking
situation and to respond effectively to it. In addition, the guidelines “… should include advice on
how State and local law enforcement agencies may collaborate proactively with non-profit
organizations on how to manage cases involving a child who is such a victim…” (H.R. 2730
2011, Section 2(b)). Child rights advocates might argue that the most notable inclusion in this
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
legislature is the provision of residential safe havens and extending services to youth victims
until the age of 21 (H.R. 2730 2011, Section 2(c) and 2(f)). This emphasizes the need for the
safety and security of youth who are either at-risk or are victims of human trafficking. Experts in
the field are still gathering evidence as to the number of cyber-sex trafficking victims as it is hard
to trace the origins and identities of traffickers and victims. However, Operation Fair Play and
Operation Roundup, two law enforcement programs in Wyoming and Palm Beach County,
Florida respectively have found that since 2009, there have been “over 20 million different IP
addresses offering child pornography files (pictures, videos) on a Peer-to-Peer file-sharing
network” (U.S. Department of Justice 2010, 12). This statistic is notable and leads law
enforcement and child trafficking experts to believe that the statistic for minor victims is just as
high. Although federal legislation on this issue still needs to be strengthened, local efforts have
been successful.
In the Philippines, law reform on human trafficking has already been enacted since 2012.
This represents an important advancement in the anti-trafficking world as it recognizes victims
and survivors of this crime as individuals who need to be protected and given adequate services.
Section Three of Republic Act 10364 defines trafficking in persons as
the recruitment, obtaining, hiring, providing, offering, transportation, maintaining,
harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent or
knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat, or use of force,
or other forms of coercion…abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of
the vulnerability of the person… (Congress of the Philippines 2012, Section 3(a)).
This revised definition in the Filipino law demonstrates their understanding and commitment to
the cause. It is justly emphasized that the initial consent of the victims does not determine the
victim’s culpability in the crime. As a general commentary, it is absurd to believe that a child
will willingly consent to being subjected to this inhumane practice of selling one’s body for sex.
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They are still developing and do not understand fully what a sexual relationship signifies.
Section 3(b) of the Act confirms that children should be automatically considered victims due to
their diminished capacity to defend themselves and to understand what is occurring.
Moreover, the inclusion of Sex Tourism, Section 3(g), Sexual Exploitation, Section 3(h)
and Pornography, Section 3(j) to the definition of sex trafficking is important in mitigating the
number of cases of sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and that of cybersex-trafficking. The
Filipino government recognizes that the means of sex-trafficking have evolved. In order to
effectively combat this crime, we need to catch up with the traffickers and buyers. The
definition of pornography in Republic Act 10364 states, “refers to any representation, through
publication, exhibition, cinematography, indecent shows, information technology, or by
whatever means, of a person engaged in real of simulated explicit sexual activities or any
representation of the sexual part of a person for primarily sexual services” (Congress of the
Philippines 2012, Section 3(J)). Therefore, the Philippines has started to concentrate their
investigation efforts towards the Internet as that is where most of the transactions and encounters
take place-a safety net. As in the provision provided in the American law, this revised AntiTrafficking law in the Philippines includes a provision for programs for trafficking victims
which include rehabilitative services (Congress of the Philippines 2012, Section 15) and an InterAgency Council Against Trafficking which will study and provide recommendations of this
crime (Congress of the Philippines 2012, Section 21).
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Type of Services to be Given Child Sex-Trafficking Victims and Potential
Victims
It is justly argued that services for at-risk children and actual child victims need to be
reformed. The rehabilitative services and shelter are essential but more needs to be included if
one wants to fight trafficking facilitated by the Internet. Children and youth need to be taught a
course called “The 411 of Internet Safety” in which at-risk and trafficking victims will be taught
the importance of exercising caution when using the Internet. This course will make them
empowered to make smart decisions when online. Most importantly, children will learn that if
they ever feel uncomfortable when interacting with someone online, they should immediately
confide in a trusted adult.
Furthermore, children should be reminded that nothing is ever their fault if they are
victims to this crime or if they are at-risk. Their value as an individual human being to their
communities, families, friends, and to the future of society should also be emphasized. As Paul
Wolters, from Terre des Hommes in the Netherlands explained, “Give children the support and
the confidence to report any abuse or attempted abuse to their parents, teachers or anyone they
trust. Make sure they understand it is not their fault if they fall victim to online abuse: they are
victims, not perpetrators (many children refuse to report abuse because they are ashamed and
often even feel they are co-responsible)” (Wolters 2014). Therefore, it is essential that
compassion and trust be displayed towards the children in order for them to feel truly safe.
In addition, self-esteem seminars need to be also implemented as required services for atrisk and trafficked children online. These seminars will be implemented as part of the
rehabilitative services offered by social service providers to minors in their programs. The exact
structure of the self-esteem seminars is discussed in the following paragraphs. However, the
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success of this program will be assessed by observation of the participants’ subsequent
interactions with each other and other individuals not in the program. Essentially, it will ensure
that children become active members of society. As mentioned, children need to understand their
value as individual human beings. Since traffickers pursue their victims based on their emotional
stability and level of self-esteem, this is crucial for services to be beneficial. Dombrowski et al.
recount a study by Finkelhor et al. which focused on online sexual encounters and found “that
one in five young internet users reported being solicited sexually within a year’s time and that
one in four of those solicited found the event very distressing”(Dombrowski et al. 2007, 155).
A further extension of this study determined that the children who were exposed to these
unwanted online sexual advancements experienced stress and negative behavior (Dombrowski et
al. 2007, 157). This highlights that children do not intentionally seek to view or engage in
pornographic material or child webcam sex tourism. Children who may feel excluded at home or
in school might tend to resort to the Internet and to social media in order to feel accepted in
society. Moreover, as a reminder, these children can come from a high or low socio-economic
background, be of any age, and be either American or foreign born children. Another online
study of twelve to eighteen girls’ internet use by CyberAngels, the College of Education at the
University of South Florida, and the Department of Child and Family Studies at the Louis de la
Parte Florida Mental Health Institute was included in Seventeen Magazine between May and
June 1999. It has been concluded that
Our results on girls’ preferred online activity were mirrored
in a subsequent survey which reported that girls spend the majority of
their time engaged in e-mail communication, instant messaging, and chat.
Generally, girls are using the Internet to engage in more relationship
oriented activities. Some respondents noted that online dialogue is used
as a mechanism to empower themselves and find a voice. In face to face
interactions young women may perceive that body size, facial features, and
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other superficial characteristics are judged as more important than
personality. Conversely, online exchanges take place in a context that
often is devoid of these visual cues (Berson et al. 2008, 66-67).
Therefore, the anonymity of the Internet provides a form of security to children and
adolescents who lack self-esteem in offline relationships. They can find solace with pretending
they are someone else, i.e. pretend to be more sophisticated than they actually are to acquire
acceptance. For these girls, the true identity of the individuals with whom they interact online is
not important as long as they are accepted and loved by someone (Berson et al. 2008, 67).
Furthermore, this online interaction is paralleled by the increasing use of computers in the home
and in school. Computers are replacing the in-person form of communication which forms the
basis of humanity. The National Centre for Education Statistics has determined that “nearly 25%
of children under the age of 6 use the Internet; 91% of school-aged children (ages 6-18) use
computers and 59% of students (4-18) access the Internet on a regular basis” (Dombrowski et al.
2007, 154). Furthermore, Dombrowski et al. note the following findings from Cyberspace
Research Unit, “33% of child respondents (no ages provided) indicated that they had chatted
with someone who later confessed to being up to 5 years older than originally introduced; 40%
admitted to engaging in chat room conversations of a sexual nature; and 25% of child internet
users had been solicited for a face-to-face encounter (Dombrowski et al. 2007 154).
These findings justify the need to create self-esteem and self-empowerment classes for atrisk and actual victims of cybersex trafficking. These classes should be divided by age group:
five to seven year olds, eight to ten year olds, eleven to fourteen year olds, and an age group of
fifteen to seventeen year olds. The divide between the different age groups is necessary because
their learning capacities vary depending on their age. A five or six year old will not have the
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same developmental capacity as a child who is fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen year old. Therefore,
discussions on similar topics should be tailored for each age group.
Self-esteem and empowerment discussions for five to six year olds shall include activities
which focus on each child’s special and unique talents. This can be done either orally and/or by
drawing pictures of their individual talents. As a result, the children will learn that they are all
valued individuals in society; likewise, they will be taught to respect each other’s differences
because we are all unique. Therefore, the young children will feel confident in themselves and
will be proud to share their talents. In turn, this will help the children learn that it is important to
notify a trusted adult if their person is violated or if they feel threatened by someone in their
daily lives whether it is online or in person.
For the eight to ten year olds, activities shall be slightly different. In a group setting they
should each share their individual strengths while encouraging each other to continue to pursue
their talents and subsequently their dreams. The children can then perform in a presentation on
the importance of being confident in oneself and they can demonstrate their talent or state a
speech about their individual importance. This activity will have the children realize that
everyone has their own individual talents and differences which make everyone unique in their
own way. Social service providers who come into contact with these children need to make them
understand that their individuality is always important and that they should never feel otherwise.
Furthermore, within the group setting, each child can also teach the others about their special
talent. For instance, if one is exceptional in dancing, that child should teach the other children a
simple dance routine.
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For our eleven to fourteen year olds, the activities can be more advanced. Individual
discussions with the social workers and affected children are necessary as with any age group.
Social workers can ask yes or no questions to the children about what makes them feel
empowered. The children can then write an essay or poem about situations that mark them as
empowered. The discussion can then focus on what it means to be an excellent leader. These
responses can then be shared within the group or individually with the social service provider. It
is foreseen that these activities will assist children realize that they are all empowered individuals
and therefore will question anyone who attempts to undermine their individuality in any
capacity. This will hopefully have them realize that they do not need to pretend to be someone
else when interacting with someone online or in person.
In addition, the self-esteem and empowerment “course” as part of the services for at-risk
and trafficked children should focus on one’s unique individuality and opportunity to influence
their peers and community positively. In addition to sharing their unique talents and strengths to
social workers and to the group if desired they should also discuss how one would feel if they are
teased or bullied by their peers or another individual. The response would be “ashamed, angry,
sad, hopeless, lost…” The discussion will then continue on with explaining to the adolescents
that they should never allow a person online or in person make them feel this way either; it is
important that they are aware that their individuality –personality—and body have a right to be
respected by everyone including adults. If they ever feel threatened they should know that they
should confide in a trusted adult who will help them.
Unlike what some individuals may believe, once the child or adolescent has been trapped
into the power of the traffickers and buyers, it is difficult for them to escape and seek help on
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their own. For one, they feel ashamed for what they have done and the trafficker and buyer lead
them to believe that their family and friends will not want them anymore because they have
engaged in inappropriate behavior. Foreign children tend to be recruited by trusted friends and
family members who promise them well-paying jobs. The online encounters are either held
inside the home or in designated cyber-cafes to escape detection. As for American children, they
are often recruited through online conversations via chat and social media, through their peers,
family, and sometimes through unintentional browsing of a pornographic website. As with other
countries, the encounters are often held in the home of the child or in the residence/business
location of trafficker. It is important to note that children who are trafficked online are usually
not kidnapped into the industry, but groomed by the trafficker and associates to enter the trade.
Specific cases are discussed below and in the individual country case sections.
“Andrea,” a Filipino girl recounts her experience when she was just fourteen to the new
phenomenon of cyber-sex trafficking. Her cousin recruited her by promising her a well-paying
babysitting job in the city; a big change from her life in the village where poverty is rampant.
She describes how she felt the first time she was instructed to display herself naked in front of a
webcam, “I was so embarrassed because I don’t want others to see my private parts. The
customer told me to remove my blouse and to show him my breasts (de Leon 2013, para. 2). This
testimony serves as proof that children and adolescents who are victims or are at-risk of
becoming a victim do not engage in it willingly. Instead, they are groomed for several weeks in
order to gain the perpetrators’ trust. The first time they are asked to engage in cyber-sex they do
it out of fear of angering the trafficker and of the consequences. If their parents are their
traffickers they follow orders because it is disrespectful to disobey one’s parents.’
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Moreover, the children do not see any other option since they are now considered the
“breadwinners” of the family and do not want their family to return to poverty. Another Filipino
girl, “Gen” admitted to CNN her experience in the illicit trade as follows, “Whatever the
American client wants us to do, we must do it” (Coorlim 2013, para. 3). The voluntary testimony
of “Gen,” “Andrea,” and other girls allowed the American and Filipino government and security
to find the traffickers and buyers and bring them to justice. Their experiences are proof that
something must be done to bring an end to this crime and help those who have been victimized
or at-risk to be empowered and heal with time. Even if they wanted to escape, it is very
dangerous as the trafficker threatens the victim and the victim’s family with violence. Therefore
it is time to treat these children as individuals in need of assistance and not as criminals who
“should” have known the difference between right and wrong.
An extension of the self-esteem/empowerment initiatives is the inclusion of traumasensitive interactions with social service providers, law enforcement, health providers, and
educators. For one, victims and at-risk children cannot be forced to answer questions or give
information if they are not ready to do so. The American federal law, Trafficking Victims
Protection Act, requests law enforcement to have victims act as witnesses in a trafficking case as
a prerequisite for victims to receive rehabilitative services, housing, safety, etc. (U.S. Congress
2000, Section 107 E (I-II)). Although the intention is understandable, one does want the
traffickers, buyers, and those involved to be brought to justice, it tends to backfire. The
victims/survivors have seen and endured things that they should not have been subjected to and
they are traumatized. Melanie Hannan, from the International Organization for Adolescents
describes their new program called the Child Right Model,
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IOFA is in full support of Safe Harbour legislation which dictates that states treat
children involved in trafficking as victims. We have developed the Child Right
model to assist states in implementing these laws once passed. One aspect of the
model includes training, which covers referring and serving child victims of
trafficking. In these trainings we discuss how to engage clients and respond to
them in a trauma-informed way so that they may receive services as victims rather
than face punitive consequences. Through Child Right: NY IOFA has partnered
with the Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University – Chicago
to develop a scientifically validated screening tool to identify child victims of
labor or sex trafficking in the child welfare context. The tool is designed to be
administered to a child or youth by a child welfare professional to identify
whether a child has experienced a trafficking situation rather than another related
form of child maltreatment. The tool will enable child welfare professionals to
identify which children are in need of specialized services for child victims of
trafficking. It will also help New York State to collect data on child trafficking in
a standardized way so that more funding for these services may be allocated. The
tool is not intended to educate children about the dangers of the internet; however
it may begin conversations on the subject between the youth and the professional
(Hannan, 2014).
Hannan rightly explains that the best mechanism to identify and prosecute those
responsible for this crime is to engage in conversation with the children that demonstrates to
them that they can trust adults and that there are adults who do care about them. If one just
pressures and or forces them to speak before they are ready to do so, one is just alienating them
further. Moreover, it will just convince them that no adult can be trusted and that one just wants
to shame them for what they have been through and do not care about their experiences; that one
just wants to profit from them. As a result, they will become alienated and hostile to those who
should be helping them. That is why it is important for law enforcement and others to be able to
obtain information by another mechanism-improved technology-which will be discussed later in
this study.
Furthermore, another important provision to provide to survivors is guaranteed education.
By this children are encouraged to remain in school in order to complete their education. They
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will then associate a full education with success and empowerment. However, since they will
most likely be too traumatized to return to school immediately they need to be evaluated weekly
by a social service provider and/or psychologist. Until the child feels comfortable returning to
school, they should have the option of receiving private tutoring or class with the other survivors
in the facility. As a result, the children will realize that their education is important for their
future and will want to continue. The teachers at these facilities will have to be trained on how to
interact with survivors of sex trafficking and sex trafficking facilitated by the Internet. A
discussion should also be held for each individual age group on the different jobs and careers that
are available for them once they are adults; in essence, a mini career day. Once they are fully
rehabilitated, children are invited back to their school and other activities.
Likewise, social service providers need to assess the safety of the child’s home life. If it
is known that the child ran away from home or that he or she has been abused at home and/or
recruited by his or her parents, relatives, or other “trusted” adult to engage in sex- trafficking,
then it is obviously dangerous for the child to return to that home. This information can be
derived by gaining the trust of the child survivors. This can be achieved by assuring the children
that one is truly there to help them and not to criticize them or blame them for what they have
been subjected to. The next step would be to find appropriate foster parents to adopt these
children to ensure they are not neglected again. The foster parents would naturally receive a
mini-training without unintentionally traumatizing them. In New York, Jewish Child Care
Association recently launched its RESOLVE program to find caring adults to open their homes
to trafficked youth, both boys and girls (JCCA RESOLVE). By taking into consideration all of
these proposed changes to current legislation, cyber trafficking of children will become an issue
that is of utmost importance. Furthermore, with this revised legislation, law enforcement, social
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service providers, psychologists, and educators will know how to proceed effectively with these
cases. All children matter and should be helped in any way possible. Otherwise, traffickers will
continue to abuse children both online and offline because of their presumed immunity from
prosecution and liability.
How Can the U.S. Limit Access to Pornographic and Sexually Explicit
Material of Children without Violating the Right of Free Speech?
This is a difficult question to answer because of the perception that any and all
information on the Internet is available for all to download and view. Although the Internet does
provide many benefits: increased access to various sources of information and increased and
improved access to communication, it has led to an increase in illegal activities and crimes.
When it concerns children, however, the common response among society is to restrict/ prohibit
the illegal activity which in this case is occurring online. Others, nevertheless, may argue that
restricting/prohibiting access to certain materials online may undermine their right to free speech
and freedom of expression. However, before forming an opinion it is important to remember that
the Internet is not always safe as one might presume. It is stated that “unencrypted wireless
communications are open to eavesdropping by technically astute users and the level of skill
required to do this has decreased as wireless communication is more common” (Dombrowski et
al. 2007, 161). Therefore, one should become accustomed to accessing wireless networks that
require a security password to reduce the number of perpetrators who actively seek children
online.
Under international law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a
treaty that protects citizens’ various civil and political rights; the United States values civil and
political rights, also known as negative rights because government cannot in theory take them
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away from you, rather than economic and social, and cultural rights which are positive rights.
Article 19 of the ICCPR concerns freedom of speech, expression, and association. Paragraph 2 of
the Article explicitly states,
Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall
include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all
kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or in print, in the
form of art, or through any media or his choice (General Assembly 1976,
Article 19 (2)).
This definition parallels closely with that of Amendment 1 of the U.S. Constitution which
states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S.
Congress 1791, Amendment 1). Even though it is understandable that government should not
restrict an individual’s ability to express himself or herself freely—we can all think for
ourselves—certain exceptions must be made when an individual or group is placed in danger due
to another individual’s action or inaction. Paragraph 3 of Article 19 of the ICCPR declares that
“…It may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law
and are necessary: for respect of the rights or reputations of others and for the protection of
national security of or public order, or of public health or morals” (General Assembly 1976,
Article 19 (3)). It is thus clear that cyber trafficking of children which includes pornography
violates freedom of speech as children are abused and endangered by the perpetrators.
Terre des Hommes
A solution to reduce the number of cases of cyber trafficking of children is by having
filters placed by internet companies and by parents/guardians to restrict the content that children
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can access online. Paul Wolters, of Terre des Hommes explains how offering filters to
parents/guardians does not violate freedom of speech as the main goal is to protect children.
How can a filter violate the freedom of speech? If anyone switches off a television
because they do not want to hear / see the content of that show, are they violating
the freedom of speech of that channel? No. No one is stopping that channel from
broadcasting. Only some people may choose not to tune into that channel. The
same with websites and chat rooms, computer games. We do not see how a filter
that parents may install voluntarily and in protection of the well-being of their
minor children (whom they have the obligation to protect) would infringe
freedom of speech. Such a filter does not stop any organisation of sending their
messages (in other words: it does not limit their freedom of speech). The same
way that anyone may chose not to answer a phone call, or to change a television
channel, or to switch off the television, anyone may chose not to access a website
or chat room he or she considers harmful or otherwise undesirable for themselves
or for their children that they are responsible for (Wolters, 2014).
The Children’s Internet Protection Act, passed in U.S. Congress in 2000 places an obligation on
schools or libraries receiving discounts through E-rate program to enact child-friendly filters on
the Internet (Federal Communications Commission). This legislation ensures that minors are
safeguarded from obscene images and content online and does not violate freedom of speech. As
a result, schools and libraries play an important role by providing access to suitable content
online to children. However, educators and librarians should still monitor youth’s activity online
as they might be able to remove the filter(s) themselves.
Therefore, one can state that technology companies and internet websites in general have
a moral obligation to ensure that young people can feel safe online. It may take time for them to
develop the most efficient methods in terms of filters and other mechanisms; however, as long as
there is evidence that they are researching and collaborating with other members of society to
have this succeed, it will be a step in the right direction. As stated in the ICCPR, it is a question
of morals and respect; how can one abuse children and not do anything about it? Their dignity as
an individual is being violated.
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Filters for now offer the best solution for minimizing cases of cyber trafficking. There are
three types of filters. “Inclusion filtering relies on the creation of a ‘whitelist’ (a list of specific
sites that are to be accessible to the user); all other content is then denied. Exclusion filtering,
conversely, relies on the existence of a ‘blacklist’ (sites to be denied). The third method uses
‘content filtering’ technology that evaluates the requested data and checks to see if its content
matches descriptions (keywords, phrases, or image characteristics) (Dombrowski et al. 2007,
162). As already stated by Mr. Wolters, many filters already exist for parents to apply on smart
phones, the Internet on their personal computer, iPods, and iPads but it needs to be strengthened.
Nowadays, most children tend to be very tech savvy and can unblock the filters while they use
the device and reinstall them once they have finished, convincing their parents/guardians that the
filters do indeed work. In addition, children may seek out other forms of communications such as
different chat rooms and social media: Facebook, Twitter, Facetime, Snapchat, Skype, and
Instagram, that parents and guardians might not be aware of as an alternative to text messages.
As explained by Dombrowski et al.
This (e.g. AOL Instant Messenger) represents one of the more prevalent
internet communications technologies. With clients available for multiple
platforms (including mobile phones) and interoperability between private
networks, it is estimated that 52 million people had used synchronous chat
as of 2002…The trend suggests increased growth of this medium, especially
among younger users of technology…A user of synchronous chat often
participates in multiple concurrent conversations, a process which limits
time for reflection and may result in a child participant unwittingly revealing
personal information to other participants (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 159-160).
Nevertheless, it is still important to remember that the safety of children is first and
foremost. Hence, if a technology company, internet provider, or a website realizes that a user is
engaging in an activity that harms youth either physically, emotionally, and/or mentally, they
should block the content from reaching other audiences and report it to the proper authorities.
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Therefore, the right to freedom of speech and of association which includes freedom to receive
and share information with others has its limitations and is not always granted. Paul Wolters
describes a recent situation in the Netherlands which exemplifies a situation of blocking or
restricting certain websites.
Terre des Hommes does not have an opinion on how national authorities should
act. However, yesterday—March 5— in the Netherlands an interesting ruling was
published on a court case involving an organisation of "people who are attracted
to children" as they describe themselves (they claim to condemn actual sexual
relations with minors). The organisation claimed freedom of association and
freedom of speech to justify its existence. However, the judge ruled that the
interest of children and their well-being is more important than the freedom of
association and freedom of speech of adults that feel attracted to children. The
judge ruled that the organisation should be forbidden (Wolters 2014).
This ruling presents an opportunity for the owners of these “sites” to protect children as their top
priority. Such inhumane practices both online and offline need to be monitored and controlled
lest their activity is condoned and perpetuated day after day.
Conversely, there are critics who believe that limiting access to certain websites and
filtering certain keywords may inadvertently pose a legal problem. The protection of children is
recognized by these critics but they fear that it might go too far. For example, if internet service
providers and technology companies block the word ‘sex,’ it will prohibit all web searches that
contain the word ‘sex.’ Although this action is intended to prohibit traffickers and perpetrators
from sexually exploiting minors online and to avoid children from accidently accessing and
viewing a pornographic site, there are potential negative consequences. By prohibiting ‘sex’
related web searches, one is potentially limiting information on a healthy sexual relationship,
rape and sexual assault, women’s health care, and other related information which is important
for girls and women to know. Most companies use a combination of the three types of filters,
although blacklists are the most common. It has been found that
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If the blacklist criteria are too closely defined (e.g. ‘foo’ and ‘bar’),
alternative spellings or wordings (e.g. ‘f00’ and ‘b@r’ or ‘foobar’)
may be missed. As a result, programs that compile lists tend to cast a very
wide net, leading to allegations of overblocking. Documents with
Metadata indicating that they relate to the University of ‘Essex’ or the
‘Essex’ Police Department may be blacklisted by filters which prevent
Access to pages containing the word ‘sex’ (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 162163).
Therefore, simply applying filters on various technological devices and the Internet in
particular is not as simple as it seems. A well-intentioned effort to safeguard children may
restrict the rights of others to have access to essential information; as always, if a person
specifically looks for information and accesses information that harms children such as child
abuse imagery (child pornographic images) or webcam sex encounters, the right to have free
access to information is waived. Technology companies need to ameliorate the available filters
so that children can be protected without restricting access to other indispensable information for
adults and in some cases children.
However, if an adult intentionally searches for pornographic websites or for sites that
promote child webcam sex, he or she should be apprehended without regards to the rights of
freedom of speech. Some might argue that they are “just viewing” these images and sexual acts
and are not actually forcing the girls to engage in such illicit activities, rather the traffickers are.
Regardless, by simply viewing and accessing these websites, these buyers are implicitly
condoning the abuse of children via the Internet. Pornography has been defined by critics and
defenders alike. Catharine A. MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin viewed pornography as an act
which demeans the dignity of its participants.
…the sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures and/or words…
and it created standing to sue in civil court for women (and men, children, and
transsexuals used in the place of women) who had experienced discrimination as a result
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of the traffic in pornography, who had been coerced into pornographic performances,
who had pornography forced on them, or who had been assaulted as a result of
pornography (Palczewski 2001, 1).
Although this argument focuses mostly on the impact on women, the logic applies to
children as well. It is difficult to fathom how a child can find and seek sexual gratification in
these sexually explicit ‘performances.’ Testimony from various child survivors in the beginning
of this study indicates that they feel ashamed, angry, confused, and stressed. Moreover, children
become distressful of adults. It has been found that “…even those children who were distressed
by the incident failed to report it to an adult. Thus it appears that internet sexual solicitation and
pornography pose threats to at least a percentage of children and adolescents” (Dombrowski et
al. 2007, 155). With such effects on children it is evident that children’s’ innocence is being
taken advantage of, which is clear indication of child abuse. The term child abuse imagery
should replace the term pornography as it more deeply focuses attention on the impact on
children; the term pornography in contrast emphasizes the act in and of itself rather than the
specific people who are involved and therefore, might be mistakenly viewed as an artistic
expression.
Critics of the prohibition of pornography view it as freedom of expression and speech
because it is only images and not ‘live abuse.’ Barry Lynn argues that
A speech/conduct distinction exists and that speech is speech and sex is sex.
Speech by definition is content and connotatively neutral….Pornography functions
like other speech in that it transmits ideas, offers a safety valve and aids selfrealization… The neutrality concerning pornography is represented by his early
interchangeable use of the term “pornography” and the phrase “sexually-oriented
material” (Palczewki 2001, 12).
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This view is limited as it views all forms of pornography as a truly consensual act from all
participants all the time. As already argued, this opinion is too simplistic as it analyzes
pornography in general without separating it into adult and child pornography; some adults do
participate willingly into pornographic activity while others may be coerced into engaging in this
activity. When it involves children however, there is no free will involved as minors do not
understand completely what is happening; they only know that it makes them confused,
ashamed, and possibly angry and they are unable to understand why they are being told to
produce these images and live videos. The children can only think to themselves “I must be
doing this because ‘Michael’ loves me and only wants what is best for me. I need to keep him
happy.” Therefore, one should reconsider stating that all pornography is consensual and available
for unlimited downloading and access online. One should refocus his or her attention on being
vigilant for potential child victims online on the different social media platforms.
Facebook
Emily Vacher, Head of Public Safety at Facebook, rightly believes that technology online
cannot help reduce cases of child sexual exploitation. Parents and guardians can apply all the
filters that they would like on the Internet but that does not replace the most important prevention
tool-communication. Adults need to speak to children in a way that empowers them to make safe
decisions online. She also recommends that children be made aware of the various privacy
settings available on Facebook to limit what information can be seen by the Facebook
community. For instance, on one’s Facebook profile, one has the option to select “View As” to
view one’s profile as the public would. In this way Facebook users can modify their privacy
settings to avoid unwanted solicitation. One can also select who in the Facebook community can
view your posts: statuses, videos, pictures, comments, and links. Vacher explained that you can
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
select “only me” if it something truly private, “only friends” if you want only your friends to see
it, “friends and friends of friends” allows friends of your friends to access your profile and postsyou may or may not know these individuals, and finally the “public” filter allows anyone on the
Facebook network to view one’s profile and selected posts. (Vacher, ECPAT-USA Panel, March
17, 2014). These options allow anyone with a Facebook account to ‘self-filter’ one’s information
on the social media site. Users are empowered to select who can see which information on their
profile and search results. This empowers Facebook users, especially youth to make safe
decisions online.
Moreover, Vacher notes that Facebook users have the opportunity to report suspicious
activity to the Facebook team. This is done to empower users to be good digital citizens and to
protect each other online. Once a photo, video, or other content has been reported on Facebook,
staff will create a digital fingerprint of the image and it will immediately become blocked.
Facebook staff will then immediately send the information and refer the situation to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children who will then report it to the law enforcement of the
appropriate country-the country where the image or video was already uploaded from. This
exemplifies the cross border implementation of the law as the Internet does not have borders.
One can also block a person from contacting them.
During the panel discussion on the Uses and Misuses of Technology, Vacher also
explained how it is possible for employees to investigate reports made by other users. “Facebook
has a policy on keeping everyone safe with its four components. We have a policy prohibiting
pornography in all its forms, a true name culture in which users are encouraged to not lie about
their name and age, partnerships with individual experts and organizations on online safety, and
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
our tools- engineers are working to develop improved safety tools” (Vacher, ECPAT-USA
Panel, March 17, 2014). By clearly stating in its policy that it does not tolerate any form of
pornography and that there will be investigations if suspected of such activity, users are warned
in advance that this type of behavior will not be tolerated; therefore, there should not be any
argument about freedom of speech being violated because the terms of service have already been
explained.
THORN: Digital Defenders of Children
Furthermore, Julie Cordua, Executive Director of THORN: Digital Defenders of Children
also participated in the panel on March 17, 2014, hosted by ECPAT-USA. She explained how
her organization informs innovators and technology companies on how predators might be using
their platforms to exploit children online and then they advise the companies on prevention
measures (Cordua, ECPAT-USA Panel, March 17, 2014). One of their innovative tools that
companies can take advantage of is the Shared Hash Initiative which is part of the organization’s
Sound Practices Guide for new technology companies to ensure that the site is child friendly. As
explained in the Sound Practices Guide
Thorn is developing a system in which companies using PhotoDNA or another
hash system could share hashes of these ‘worst of the worst’ photos in order to
more rapidly build a database of identified image hashes and, consequently, more
rapidly remove this content from their systems. The result of this, beyond more
rapid identification and removal, would be a reduced human impact on front-line
safety teams who have to view content, possible reduction in costs for teams
scanning for images and more effective and efficient reporting to NCMEC that
could lead to quicker victim identification (THORN 2013, 22).
In a separate interview, Cordua confirmed that “The shared hash initiative has been adopted by
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and will be rolled into their
CyberTipline reporting tool this year” (Cordua, 2014). This photo tool allows for various
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technology companies to prescreen photos before they can be uploaded on one’s website; most
importantly, it permits for a collection of similar child abuse photos among companies to be able
to catch the predators. If potential predators know that their activity is being monitored, they
might be deterred from engaging in such activity. As a result, it allows for child abuse images to
be filtered out from individual websites before damage can be done.
Another measure that new technology websites and existing websites and technology
companies can employ to ensure children’s safety is user’s terms of service. One can adapt the
language to meet one’s company’s mission but it should be clear that one’s company does not
tolerate child sexual exploitation, or child abuse imagery in any form. As explained in the Sound
Practices Guide
Ensure that language is included in terms of service that prohibits your service
from being used for the exploitation of minors. Stronger
language can include prohibiting pornography and more specifically, child sexual
exploitation on your platform. This will notify users at the outset that your
platform does not allow this type of content and that when it is identified, it will
be removed and reported (THORN 2013, 8).
Moreover, one should consider enabling user flagging on one’s websites as well to encourage
users to report suspicious activities.
Activate your user base to become a second set of eyes and ears
for your service. Make it easy for users to flag and report exploitative content or
behavior. This should include educating your users about forms of exploitation,
the warning signs and making it easy across platforms to report photos, links,
users, ads, and other suspicious behavior (THORN 2013, 8).
With these two main tools, owners and employees of various technology companies can take an
active role in mitigating child sexual exploitation online. The terms of service and user flagging
allow employees and managers of the companies to be able to investigate suspicious activities
and to refer them to appropriate authorities for further investigation if necessary. Since it is in
writing, users of these websites cannot argue that their freedom of speech has been violated if
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they are searched because they have already agreed to it when they first accessed the website.
Another thing to tackle is to have users actually read the terms of service but that is another issue
to solve. Most users just browse through the companies’ regulations without taking time to read
them thoroughly.
Cordua in her speech at the ECPAT-USA panel on March 17, 2014 also mentioned
another type of “self-filter” users can use with the help of THORN.
We operate in peer to peer networks making it more difficult for people to find
child pornography. When people search for this content they may instead get
information we seed in this environment. To date, our files have been
downloaded more than 4 million times. We also run this type of deterrence
program on search platforms and have more than 1500 people a day reaching our
help page via search. We then direct people to an organization called Stop It
Now. The 10% stat is to say that of the people that reach our Thorn landing
page, 10% take the next step to click through to help resources via Stop It Now
(Cordua 2014).
This use of peer to peer networks is very innovative as it targets the “source” of the problem
which is demand. Once the individuals who search for child abuse imagery and/or live webcam
sex performances reach the THORN landing page, they will hopefully think about the
consequences of their intended actions. The fact that 10% of those that reach THORN access the
STOP It Now resources is compelling; it is hoped that that number will increase. THORN is in
the lead with devising this filter to catch actual and would-be predators. This initiative represents
an important advancement because in actuality it will be very difficult to arrest every predator
who attempts to produce, distribute, and/or receive child abuse imagery and will affect available
resources.
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How Can Civil Society Be More Involved in Reducing this Crime?
Family Online Safety Institute
First and foremost, communication between parents and younger children and older
children need to be established. If one talks about the importance of online safety, then youth in
general will be more inclined to practice necessary online safety on a regular basis. Children tend
to be naive and to believe that the Internet is safe in and of itself. Stephen Balkam, CEO of
Family Online Safety Institute cited the following statistics at the ECPAT-USA panel discussion.
One out of ten teens has shared their username/password with someone other than their parents;
girls are more likely to do this than boys. In addition, the percentage of girls to boys who are
concerned about their online identity is 81% to 72%. Furthermore, Balkam also mentioned that a
Pew research study found that the number of text messages sent per day increased from 50 per
day in 2009 to 60 a day in 2011. It has been found that older girls are more likely to be on
Twitter than boys (Balkam, ECPAT-USA Panel, March 17, 2014). With these statistics it is clear
that the youth of today are on the Internet, social media, and other forms of mobile
communication in increasing numbers.
One of the three P’s of Family Online Safety Institute is Good Digital Parenting. Adults
and “parents need to have a talk about digital life online because it is difficult for parents to keep
up with all the app’s that kids are using online” (Balkam, ECPAT-USA Panel, March 17, 2014).
By speaking to children about online safety and actively engaging them in the conversation by
asking questions, youth will be more receptive about being responsible digital citizens. This
initiative is part of the organization’s Platform for Good campaign in which resources are
provided to youth about safe online practices. The most used tool for the spring is the spring
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cleaning checklist for internet users entitled “Now is the perfect time to clean-up your digital
footprint.” The guidelines are to “search yourself online; check privacy settings on commonly
accessed websites; use strong passwords for your different accounts online; update your software
regularly; think before you post on social media- if you would not want your immediate family,
colleges, or future employers to see it, then you should not post it; maintain your mobile devicesboth computers and smart phones by using strong passwords and updating regularly; finally
build a positive reputation online by posting important achievements, news, and/or events that
you are passionate about” (Family Online Safety Institute, “Clean Up Your Digital Footprint”).
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Source: A Platform for Good. “Clean Up Your Digital Footprint.”
http://www.aplatformforgood.org/pages/clean-up-your-digital-footprint
Cases in the United States
The United States’ recent increase in internet related crime has witnessed the
development of some technology to combat it. However, more needs to be done. On May 18,
2013 a former football coach, Joseph J. Ostrowski from Pennsylvania was sentenced to 25 years
for producing child pornography, interstate extortion and cyber stalking. The internet platforms
he used to recruit and exploit his victims included Facebook, Skype, e-mail, instant messaging,
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The Multi-Facets of Cyber-Sex Trafficking: A Call for Action and Reform from Society
and text messages. Ostrowski committed his crimes in other states including New York and New
Jersey. In addition, the defendant admits posing as a student or school alumnus to lure his
victims. Moreover, he pleaded guilty to persuading and enticing, and attempting to persuade and
entice minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for production of pornography including
live transmission via web-cam (U.S. Fed News Service 2013).
This particular case demonstrates that there is not one typical trafficker and they may not
all look like your common criminal. They are often well-known and respected people in their
communities; therefore, it is challenging to identify and prosecute such traffickers because they
lead a double life and are able to hide their activities. Furthermore, this investigation was led by
the FBI who was informed by Project Safe Childhood, a project of the Department of Justice to
combat sexual exploitation and abuse. Thus, sharing of information within law enforcement is
necessary to punish the perpetrators and protect the victims.
Similarly, in March 2014, James Alfred Beckman Jr., of Mattawan, Michigan and former
associate director for MPI Research has been charged with sexual exploitation of two boys and
possession of child pornography images. The nine charges which were filed in U.S. District
Court in Grand Rapids include six counts of sexual exploitation of a child and attempted sexual
exploitation of a child, two counts of distribution of child pornography, and one count of receipt
of child pornography. As in the previous case, the offender is a well-known and prominent man
in his community. His active participation in the community led him to believe that he would be
able to escape detection from others and law enforcement. Beckman’s trial started in February
2014 and the jury has deliberated the case (Hall Jr. 2014).
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Unlike the former case, the investigation started because one of the alleged victims, a ten
year old boy, reported the incident to his mother who reported it to authorities. The minor told
his mother that he feigned sleep when Beckman sexually abused him but remembers seeing a
laptop computer and believes the webcam was on to produce a live transmission of the sexual
encounter. Furthermore, a FBI agent claimed that more than three hundred images of child
pornography have been found on the defendant’s computer at his former job (Hall Jr. 2013). The
initiative taken by the victim’s mother is significant because it demonstrates the trust between
children and their parents which is rare in today’s society. Children tend to be reluctant to report
an incident to their parents or an educator because they fear reprisal for having used the Internet
in the first place, in most cases without permission. As recounted by Dombrowski et al.
A similar percentage (23%) of young people in the Finkelhor study found
exposure to pornography very/extremely distressing. Moreover, Finklehor et al.
reported that even those children who were distressed by the incident failed to
report it to an adult (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 155).
Hence, effective prevention of cyber trafficking of minors will be achieved if educators and
parents/guardians alike engage with youth on the importance of internet safety practices. Trust
needs to be established between both parties for this to be effective. Particular methods on
achieving this trust will be discussed further.
Moreover, this case demonstrates the difficulty of proving a cyber-pornography case.
Sexual encounters are often not recorded and therefore, it is as if nothing ever happened.
Furthermore, the possession of child abuse images on Beckman’s work computer poses
challenges as well. His attorney Anastase Markou has already indicated a motion to dismiss six
of the charges claiming it “is based on the contentions that federal investigators have found no
“captured images” or “webcam activity” on Beckman’s work or personal computers “despite an
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extensive and exhaustive analysis”” (Hall Jr. 2013). Since the images are located on his work
computer, Markou can argue that another person could have downloaded those images; there is
no recorded footage of the defendant downloading the images.
In addition, prosecutors will have to prove with an unreasonable doubt that there was a
criminal intent to commit this crime. There is a possibility that the defendant might also claim
that he inadvertently visited a website that unintentionally led him to download images of
children; hopefully, prosecutors will obtain as much evidence as possible to be able to win the
case. If one does not take this case seriously, then there will be countless similar cases in the
future that will not be resolved. With this attitude, society is rendering it easier for traffickers to
exploit youth online and children will become even more reluctant to discuss their concerns with
a trusted adult.
Philippines Case and Implication for the International Community
Global civil society can come together to fight this crime by sharing resources and
knowledge. It is an issue that affects everyone. Traffickers often use more than one
computer/mobile device in different locations in order to have a successful business. It is a crime
that hurts our children, the leaders of tomorrow. For instance, the power of shared knowledge is
seen in July 2013, in which three minors and six women from the Philippines were rescued from
a ring forcing them to perform live sex shows via the Internet for customers in a house used as
the place of operations in Barangay Malabanias, Angeles City, Pampanga (ABS CBN News
2013).
The raid succeeded because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland
Security Initiatives assisted with their technical expertise when asked to help by the Inter-
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Agency Council against Trafficking and the International Justice Mission (ABS CBN News
2013). The sharing of expertise in a specific field always accelerates the process and guarantees
results. Officials in the raid found a plethora of evidence of the crime including “computer sets,
webcams, cameras, sex toys, notebooks containing lists of earnings and contributions as well as
proofs of payment through money transfer” (ABS CBN News 2013). The three suspects who
have been arrested face a maximum of life imprisonment and a fine not exceeding P5 million.
The necessity for cross-border sharing of information and resources is described by IACAT
chairperson and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, “Trafficking is a crime against humanity and all
efforts and cooperation are needed to combat this scourge. The inter-government cooperation
further reinforced the [Philippines-United States] alliance in combating the menace of modern
day slavery” (ABS CBN News 2013).
Involving Parents and Educators
Children first and foremost need to be included in the dialogue. As active users of the
Internet they need to be informed of its potential dangers and be consulted on safe internet
practices. An online survey on Seventeen Magazine in 1999 conducted with CyberAngels, the
College of Education at the University of South Florida, and the Department of Child and Family
Studies at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, asked girls aged twelve to
eighteen on their internet use, involvement in at-risk behavior on the web, and their thoughts on
promoting internet safety. Results demonstrate that 30% spend between three to five hours online
each week and 12% spend between ten to twelve hours online each week (Berson Michael J. and
Berson Ilene R. 2008, 58). The numbers today are most likely higher as youth can access the
Internet on their smartphones at any time and do not have to wait to have access to a computer.
Moreover, there is a negative correlation between time spent online and risk of engaging in
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dangerous cyber activities; it only exacerbates when youth have no continued dialogue with their
teachers and/or parents to discuss proper internet use. Specifically, it has been found that “Teens
have a tendency to maintain secrecy about cyber activity, contributing to a void of information
about the prevalence of internet abuse directed toward children” (Berson et al. 2008, 65).
However, if parents and educators actively engage youth in internet safety discussions,
they will be able to retain the attention of youth and guarantee their commitment to abide by
these safety practices. Youth in general do not favor being told they cannot do something and
they will tend to disobey the rules. Therefore, if they are asked to list the potential dangers of
sharing too much information online and the need for safe behavior they will be more receptive.
According to the age groups, educators can also provide potential scenarios to their students and
ask what the best response would be. Berson et al. argue correctly that “Young people can be
adequately prepared for potential risks on the Internet by learning how to identify ambiguous
situations, take appropriate steps to minimize their vulnerability, and augment their abilities to
make informed decisions for safe navigation online” (Berson et al. 2008, 68). It can be safely
argued then that youth like being empowered because it provides them with a sense that their
opinions and input matter rather than being lectured to. In addition, this will positively improve
their self-esteem which will deter traffickers who prey on the vulnerable.
Likewise, parents and educators need to be at ease speaking about this issue with youth.
In addition, it cannot be a one-time discussion; dialogue needs to be constant, at least once every
week or every other week. Continuous discussion between youth and trusted adults is necessary
for there to be effective protection for youth and to thereby reduce incidences of cyber
trafficking. It is stated,
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Although many young people have become aware of cyber safety as a result of
initial
discussions with adults, there appears to be a paucity of ongoing
communication, leaving parents generally unaware of the online behaviors of
their children. This is described by Young (1998) as a benign neglect of children’s
Internet activity (Berson et al. 2008, 65).
Therefore, parents and educators need to be regularly trained on how to identify and respond to
potential situations that endanger youth. One of the first steps for educators and parents is to
discuss with children according to their age level the importance of maintaining one’s privacy
online by not oversharing one’s personal information in order to ensure one’s safety (Berson et
al. 2008, 65). “If one would not engage in this type of activity in person, one should not do so
online.” Framed in this manner, youth will realize that their safety and well-being is of utmost
importance and will feel more comfortable expressing their concerns to adults. Educators and
caregivers can monitor youth’s behavior and determine if there is a sudden change in academic
performance, loss of interest in favorite hobbies, decrease in social interaction, sudden
withdrawal, and too much time spent on the Internet. If any of these factors are present both
educators and parents have to respond effectively. Dombrowski et al. remark, “Unwanted
exposure can evoke strong negative feelings and lead to significant stress” (Dombrowski et al.
2007, 157).
Moreover, additional methods to safeguard youth’s safety is for parents to supervise their
children’s online friends, monitor youth’s screen names, establish an Internet contract with
youth, monitor Internet use—only a certain amount of time allowed online each day—and to use
the computer in a common area such as the living room. Educators can monitor students’ online
activity by walking around the classroom and also establishing an online safety contract that
outlines the students’ responsibility and the educators’ responsibility to foster a safe learning
environment (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 165-166).
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The need for an Internet contract has been initiated by the Family Online Safety Institute
and can be downloaded online on their website. The Family Online Safety Contract includes two
parts: Parent’s Contract and Child’s Contract. This is important because it recognizes the need
for both youth and parents/guardians to establish certain guidelines for safe internet use while
respecting each other’s privacy and personal space. Some of the most important rules outlined
for parents are the following “I will get to know the services and websites my child uses. I will
set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by my children, including how much time
they may spend online; I will encourage them to participate in offline activities as well. We will
discuss these rules and post them near the computer as a reminder… If my child continues to
break our Internet rules after we have discussed them I will impose penalties for their actions
including taking away his or her computer, cell phone, or other devices until the behavior
changes” (Family Online Safety Institute, Family Online Contract “Parent’s Contract:” Rules 2,
3 and 12).
For the Children’s part of the Contract, guidelines include “I will tell my parents my
usernames and passwords, but always keep them private from everyone else. I will not share my
personal information or my parent’s or family’s with anyone online. This includes: name,
address, telephone number, age, or school name. I will not post this information to my profiles
even if I think only my friends will see it. I will tell my parents about the people I meet online,
even if they don’t ask. I won’t answer e-mails, IMs, messages or friend requests from people I
don’t know and my parents haven’t approved. If I see or read things that I think are bad,
inappropriate, or mean I will show my parents right away. I will help my parents learn more
about the Internet and what I do and where I go online…” (Family Online Safety Institute,
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Family Online Contract “Child’s Contract”: Rules 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10). As remarked by Sean
McDonald from Social Impact Lab, “It starts at home but it takes a village” (McDonald 2014).
Law Enforcement and Technology
Law enforcement is one of the many sectors of civil society that is involved in the
identification of both offenders and victims. Without them, it will be difficult to obtain justice for
the crime that has been committed. However, there needs to be continued training of law
enforcement to ensure they will be informed of the many mechanisms offenders use to recruit
and exploit victims. Although statistics on the exact number of cyber-sex trafficking victims is
difficult to obtain, Terre des Hommes Netherlands estimates that there are more than ten
thousand minor victims in the Philippines alone (Terre des Hommes “FAQ’s” 1). However, the
actual number of victims around the world is expected to be much higher as actual evidence of
the crime is difficult to obtain and victims may be afraid to seek help. In addition, “only six
predators have ever been convicted of engaging as customers in WCST… Terre des Hommes
urges all governments to adopt proactive investigation policies to patrol online hotspots where
WCST is known to take place and to catch and identify predators without waiting for child
victims to report crimes” (Terre des Hommes 2013, 16).
Moreover, GMA News in February 2014 announced that the Philippine National Police is
currently investigating over 31 provinces in the country believed to be prone to cyber-sex
trafficking. The ‘watch’ includes 18 provinces in the Luzon region, six provinces in Visayas, and
seven provinces in Mindanao (Dinglasan 2014).
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Source: One World-Nations Online. Philippines Political Map.
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/philippines-political-map.htm
“Sweetie” Chat Conversation
Since traffickers often use more than one mobile device to escape detection, law
enforcement needs all the help it can receive from the technology experts. Terre des Hommes
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created “Sweetie” to catch the predators by gaining their trust by posing as a ten-year old
Filipino girl. The ability of the buyers to see “Sweetie” even though she is not real, gave them
the confidence to engage in conversations with “her” even after learning that she was ten-years
of age. The operation succeeded as 1,000 predators have been identified within ten weeks (Terre
des Hommes “FAQ’s”, 15-16). An excerpt from one of the chat conversations can be found
below. The buyer identifies as Older4 Young and “Sweetie” as 10 f Philippines.
Older4Young: hi there how old are you?
10 f Philippines: hi, me 10 f Philippines.
10 f Philippines: u?
Older4Young: mmmmm I like that my daughter is your age. Are you a
virgin?
Older4Young: I am 35 you like older men?
10 f Philippines: yes, sometimes, if they nice
Older4Young: do you do cam shows? (Terre des Hommes 2013, 3).
Source: Terre des Hommes Netherlands. 2013. Stop Webcam Child Sex Tourism. “Sweetie.”
November 4. http://www.terredeshommes.org/webcam-child-sex-tourism/
Virtual Child Pornography
In addition, Ana Morse, President of ECPAT-USA informed the audience at the
technology panel about another mechanism traffickers are using to lure and groom children in
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this illicit trade. “Virtual” or CGI child pornography involves the use of a virtual image of a child
to convince him or her to engage in cyber-sex trafficking (Morse, ECPAT-USA Panel, March
17, 2014). Moreover, it was discussed that traffickers have started using Instagram, MyRedbook,
Craigslist, and game sites such as MocoSpace and Xbox live to sexually exploit children.
Perpetrators escape detection from law enforcement by using pre-paid and disposable phones
(Morse, ECPAT-USA Panel, March 17, 2014).
Although traffickers have been using many forms of technology to profit their business,
technology companies have started to develop software and other tools to identify them. Morse
shared that Google is developing a trafficking in persons hotline, Microsoft developed
PhotoDNA software that can identify existing child abuse images, JP Morgan Chase has
successfully uncovered illicit financial transactions with its money-laundering protocols, and
Palantir has provided the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with a program to
analyze their various databases (Morse, ECPAT-USA Panel, March 17, 2014). Fred Humphries,
VP of U.S. Government Affairs at Microsoft explained the important role technology companies
play in combating cyber-sex trafficking. “Human trafficking and child exploitation are horrific
crimes particularly when facilitated through hidden online platforms. Exploring new ways
communication technology and public-private partnerships could be used in the global effort to
combat human trafficking is necessary to curtailing this burgeoning problem” (U.S.
Representative Karen Bass Press Release 2014).
Polaris Project “BeFree” Texting Hotline
The important link between technology and law enforcement is reinforced by the
testimony given by Julie Cordua of THORN at the panel hosted by ECPAT-USA on March 17,
2014 at the Church Center for the United Nations. One of the first steps is to obtain data when
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possible by the survivors themselves. THORN conducted a survivor survey in which children
revealed that technology played a great role in the grooming process, recruitment, exploitation,
and escape. Traffickers nowadays provide their victims with mobile phones and expect children
to communicate with them via this device at all times. Cordua indicated that the results of the
survey will be published within the next two months (Cordua 2014).
Due to this discovery, the thoughts turned to how to use technology to help victims seek
help and therefore, receive adequate assistance from law enforcement. THORN then partnered
with the National Human Trafficking Hotline, a project of Polaris Project; they successfully
launched a texting option to allow victims to text to “BEFREE” to receive help. It has been
found that
The text short code in collaboration with the National Human Trafficking Hotline
has resulted in more than 500 human trafficking cases opened via text (this means
there was a lead submitted and it was referred to law enforcement or local
authorities to investigate – not necessarily that an arrest was made) and we know
of 5 rescues of trafficking victims since March 2013 (Cordua 2014).
Polaris Project has recently reported on the success of the texting tool since it was
implemented in March 2013. It has been found that victims are using the texting option to reach
the National Hotline more than calling the hotline number. The existence of these tools: both
hotline number and texting feature allow victims and concerned individuals to seek help and
ensure the safety of individuals. Polaris Project notes that “In our first year, 17% of texting
conversations were from victims of human trafficking compared to 9% of phone calls in 2013.
Victims of human trafficking are closely monitored by their traffickers, and for many, a text
message can be a more discreet way for them to reach out for help. This data was reached by
analyzing 1,111 texting conversations between March 13-March 14” (Polaris Project 2014, 1).
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Moreover, from a total of 155 human trafficking cases learned through the texting tool, “74% of
cases referenced sex trafficking, 8% referenced labor trafficking, 68% of cases referenced at
least one female victim, 8% referenced at least one male victim. 56% of cases referenced at least
one adult victim, 27% referenced at least one minor victim. 38 tips were provided to law
enforcement. 130 referrals were provided to individuals who requested local anti-trafficking
services” (Polaris Project 2014, 2).
Source: Polaris Project. 2014. The First Year of Texting. “Cases of Human Trafficking
reported via text in the first year of the national human trafficking hotline’s texting program.”
http://www.polarisproject.org/resources/hotline-statistics/the-first-year-of-texting
These statistics for the first year of operation are commendable and demonstrates the true
collaboration between law enforcement and a civil society organization. It is hoped that the
texting tool will continue to save lives, especially those of men, boys, and labor trafficking
victims who often do not know that there is help available or they are too ashamed to seek help.
Hence, Polaris Project will continue to spread awareness of this tool to the general public
especially to social service providers, anti-trafficking organizations, first responders, and law
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enforcement. An individual can also make a difference by providing the texting number hotline
to his or her community at-large, especially at schools, places of worship, shelters, restaurants,
malls, and hospitals/doctors’ offices, common places where victims and potential victims can be
typically found. Proof that the texting tool benefits those individuals who come into contact with
victims is exemplified by the words of Ronna Bright, Project Manager for the Fresno Economic
Opportunities Commission Central Valley against Human Trafficking (CVAHT) in California
It is imperative that victims of human trafficking have a variety of options
to reach out and communicate in their quest for information, assistance,
and escape. The ability to silently text with an advocate can be a lifeline
to a victim who is isolated and controlled. We live in a global, fast-paced
technology-driven world and it is exciting to spread awareness of this
texting capability. Thank you Polaris Project… (Polaris Project 2014, 3).
This initiative proves that different members are needed to mitigate this crime. We all
have different capabilities and unless civil society joins together, traffickers will continue to
exploit children with impunity and victims and potential victims will be too afraid or will not
know how to seek help. One needs to be informed about the latest technology in order to always
be one step ahead of the traffickers.
THORN: Escort Page Tool
Another initiative taken by the organization THORN is the Escort Page tool. As already
discussed, the rise of the Internet has led to an increase in the amount of escort ads of children to
be placed online. Many attendees of the panel on the Use of Technology and Sex Trafficking
hosted by ECPAT-USA were surprised to learn from Cordua that the victims themselves are
forced to write their own escort ads on websites such as Backpage. Since traffickers know that
the use of children is illegal and that law enforcement will be monitoring such ads, they have
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their victims’ upload fake pictures of adults to trick law enforcement, technology companies, and
buyers. However, with the help of technology company, Digital Reasoning, they were able to
develop the Escort Page tool which is described below.
The tool is based off a machine learning algorithm that identifies certain
indicators unique to a child’s ad and then uses that learning to identify those ads
online. Our Escort page tool is just in testing right now with a few local
jurisdictions across the country and has resulted in 5 trafficking victims being
arrested. We do know traffickers and buyers have been arrested and identified by
these tools, but we don’t have the exact data on this. Law enforcement has the
information and for a variety of reasons does not always share back with us
(Cordua 2014).
To emphasize, this tool is important in the anti-trafficking world. By being able to create
a saved list of key words that can identify a potential child escort ad, it facilitates the job of law
enforcement and others. It is physically time-consuming to read through every escort ad on every
website that offers these services. This tool enables the owners of these websites to efficiently
screen through suspicious escort ads in a number of minutes. As explained by Julie Cordua, this
information is then shared with law enforcement who investigates the matter. It is expected that
if the ad is indeed that of a minor child, he or she will be referred to the appropriate services and
that the traffickers and buyers are brought to justice. Common words in a child escort ad might
include, “young and innocent.”
Tor Network
Furthermore, recently Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and
other law enforcement officials joined together to shut down an international child trafficking
ring which shared among its members sexually explicit images of children. The secret website
which was known only by buyers of child abuse imagery, operated under the Tor network from
June 2012 until June 2013, which hides a user’s location and thereby ensures anonymity (BBC
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News US and Canada 2014, 2). Jonathan Johnson, the supposed administrator of this site is one
of the fourteen men arrested for involvement in its operation. Hopefully, they will receive high
conviction rates to send a message to other individuals who produce, receive, and share child
abuse imagery that it is not acceptable in any form.
In addition, U.S. law enforcement officials state that about 250 children are on this site.
Most of the victims were U.S. boys aged thirteen to seventeen and twenty-three of the victims
are originally from Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Belgium (BBC News US and
Canada 2014, 1). The fact that the website operated undetected from law enforcement for about a
year and that victims included children of both genders and other parts of the world confirms that
the Internet truly has no borders and that greater surveillance is needed. BBC also noted that
officials discovered that the website contained more than 2,000 shared sexually explicit webcam
videos, mostly of boys. These boys were groomed on various social media sites to share sexually
explicit videos of themselves with women and with men posing as women (BBC News US and
Canada 2014, 1-2).
However, the ring was not found by technology efforts. Surprisingly, it was investigated
when a child received a suspicious item through U.S. Postal Service (BBC News US and Canada
2014, 2). Therefore, one needs not only advanced technology to stop the perpetrators but
involvement from all members of society. Awareness of the issue is imperative to mitigating and
eventually ending the issue. If you are not yet compelled to be involved in this cause, the words
of ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale will. “Never before in the history of this agency have
we identified and located this many minor victims in the course of a single child exploitation
investigation” (BBC News US and Canada 2014, 1). The success of this recent operation by
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federal law enforcement officials indicates that cyber trafficking is becoming an important issue
for law enforcement in this day of age; this is important as this crime cannot be stopped solely by
law enforcement; they need assistance from society in general, especially technology companies,
which will be discussed in the following paragraphs. Without the recent technology updates, law
enforcement will not be able to track down other perpetrators and buyers of child abuse imagery.
Difficulty of having up to date technology for law enforcement to arrest
traffickers and buyers
As already discussed in this study, law enforcement need to have the latest technology in
order for them to be able to arrest these criminals and see them prosecuted in court. The Internet
in and of itself is borderless and therefore, it is difficult to locate the original IP address of when
the crime started and become distributed to others. A study of law enforcement in North Carolina
found that “Compared to more traditional crimes, computer-related crimes often do not elicit the
same reaction from the public and political system—both of which heavily influence criminal
justice policy—resulting in only a small amount of effort and resources being allocated in this
area (Davis 2012, 273). Although this study is limited to North Carolina and was completed in
2011 it can be applied to other states within the U.S. and the U.S. national government as well as
foreign countries, in this case the Philippines. The success of Polaris Project’s texting tool within
one year is remarkable and shows that law enforcement is slowly starting to recognize
cybercrimes, especially cyber-sex trafficking of children as a priority.
However, law enforcement needs to continue to be trained on human trafficking and
cyber-sex trafficking in order to outsmart the traffickers and buyers. It will be ideal if law
enforcement is able to detect a potential cyber-sex trafficking victim in the grooming process and
early stages of recruitment before they enter the illicit trafficking world. In particular, North
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Carolina law enforcement suggested the following training opportunities that can be offered to
them: “computer and cell phone forensics, search warrant preparation, and legal aspects of
cybercrime, network intrusion, online predator detection, and IP address tracking (Davis 2012,
277). If this training is offered to various law enforcement officials, it will help solidify
identification of potential and actual victims of child cyber-sex trafficking and solidify evidence
needed in court in order to prosecute the offenders.
For instance, a 2008 study of North Carolina law enforcement received a total of 127
survey responses from a total of 263. 40.8% of 2008 survey respondents indicated that the
inability to trace and monitor internet communications hinders their ability to investigate
cybercrime (Davis 2012, 278). The respondents indicated that online enticement of minors/child
pornography received 4.9% of investigations and cyber-attacks/cybersquatting received about
1.9% (Davis 2012, 277). Recent data is not available but it is assumed that the number of
investigations in this area have increased as a result of heightened awareness of the role of the
Internet and trafficking.
With the growing awareness of the relationship between crimes and the Internet, it is
hoped that law enforcement will have the necessary tools at their fingertips to prosecute these
crimes. A crime, regardless if it is committed via cyberspace or not is still considered a crime.
Traffickers utilize the Internet because they know it is difficult to prosecute and prove if there is
no recorded evidence. With time, collaboration from all levels of society and all levels of
government will help to deter traffickers from using the Internet to sexually exploit children.
Justin T. Davis argues that
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…leadership from both government and local law enforcement must begin to
recognize the problems associated with computers and crime to effectively
implement strategies that will enhance computer crime control… Due to culture
within agencies, investigating computer crimes often takes on a lower precedent.
Thereby, a stigma is placed on computer-related crime as these crimes rarely
place an officer in the line of dangers” (Davis 2012, 281-282).
Moreover, in general, the lack of reliable digital evidence in courts also negatively affects
the outcome of child pornography cases. Richard Boddington who conducted a study on the
challenges of implementing reliable digital evidence in a child pornography trial notes that,
Because the legal fraternity generally understands little about computer science,
the potential for miscarriages of justice are great… Defendants are pleading guilty
based on what appears to be overwhelming hearsay evidence, mainly digital
evidence without robust defence rebuttal. Reason for this may be the evidence is
compelling, the defendant may have limited financial resources, the defence
lawyers misread the evidence, plea-bargaining offers lesser sentences, etc
(Boddington 2012, 156).
This study which was conducted in Australia highlights the importance of not only having
reliable digital evidence and the mechanisms to do that but also the importance of excellent
analytical skills by attorneys of the digital evidence. For instance, a law enforcement official can
find evidence of child abuse imagery/child pornography and evidence of webcam sex encounters
with minors on someone’s computer; however, the case becomes more complicated when it is
known that there are multiple users of one single computer. In this scenario the owner of the
computer or other electronic devices may or may not be the true culprit. In situations such as
these, it is important that the actual individual who produced, downloaded, or distributed these
images is brought to justice. Boddington examines one of these cases which took place in
Australia in his study. The case is named the State of Western Australia versus Buchanan (2009)
which included a charge of possession of child pornography.
In addition, in analyzing a case, there exist many types of reasoning that law enforcement
and attorneys can utilize to win a case. The most common one is abductive reasoning in which
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individuals make quick assumptions based on the facts provided to them without exploring any
other possible explanations. On the other hand, deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning
allow for more analysis (Boddington 2012, 157). In particular,
Cases relying on digital evidence are often complex and involve
various groups of related and unrelated evidence that make up the various
threads of evidence that form part of the rope of evidence. The problem
confronting the examiner is locating and selecting the evidence which
requires careful, unbiased reasoning. Each thread complements the whole
but often important threads are subject to misinterpretation or are
overlooked (Boddington 2012, 157).
Therefore, analysis of received evidence needs to be objective and not subjective.
Although the community as a whole wants to minimize and eventually eradicate cyber
trafficking of children around the world, it is important that the innocent are not unjustly
prosecuted for a crime that they did not commit. For this to happen, prosecutors and attorneys
need to receive an updated training on how to proceed with such cases and the necessity to not
oversimplify the situation. Richard Boddington comments on the 2009 State of Western
Australia versus Buchanan case on mere possession of child abuse imagery/child pornography,
Expedient use of the evidence selected by the prosecution analyst,
combined with questionable inferences about the probity of the evidence,
suggested a disregard about the defendants’ presumed innocence in the
selected case. The charge of possession with intent, hinged on the
defendant’s ownership and exclusive access to the computer. No
explicit evidence was offered to support the truth of the contention nor
was any attempt made to show others had access of the computer.
Offensive pictures and video files and access to child pornography
websites was offered as prima facie evidence of guilt, presumably based
on abductive reasoning (Boddington 2012, 158).
If prosecutors and attorneys want to effectively deter and stop perpetrators and buyers of
child abuse imagery they need to rethink their logic and deductive reasoning tactics. If one only
succeeds in prosecuting innocent individuals, then those individuals who are guilty will continue
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their illicit business with impunity. They need to know that there are consequences and that they
will be held justly accountable. Forensic examiners and prosecutors need to provide logical
explanations of the evidence acquired by first defining legal and investigative questions for the
case and then proceeding to define forensic scientific questions (Boddington 2012, 158-159). A
checklist for digital evidence should be made available for forensic examiners and prosecutors
for evaluation of digital evidence. It should include “accuracy, authenticity, completeness,
confidentiality, consistency, possession, relevance, and timeliness” (Boddington 2012, 161).
As a result, this checklist could serve as a template for a Code of Conduct for law
enforcement and forensic examiners. A Code of Conduct for the tourism and hospitality industry
already exists and is under the direction of ECPAT-USA in the United States. The Tourism and
Child Protection Code of Conduct “is the only voluntary set of business principles travel and tour
companies can implement to prevent child sex tourism and trafficking of children. The Code is a
joint venture between the tourism private sector and ECPAT” (ECPAT-USA 2014). The tourism
and hospitality companies which sign the Code of Conduct commit themselves to corporate
social responsibility by protecting at-risk children and actual victims of trafficking. Likewise, by
law-enforcement and its affiliates signing a similar Code of Conduct, it will emphasize its
commitment to moral and ethical investigative responsibility. Top officials need to meet to
decide on the exact language before finalizing it and disseminating the Code for law enforcement
officials. With increased awareness of the importance of accurate analysis and fact-checking,
more precise and successful cases will be prosecuted in court. Richard Boddington affirms that a
successful analysis of child abuse imagery cases includes
Browsing activities for child pornography may be corroborated through
search histories, downloaded files, browser caches, and viewing and
storage behavior by the user… A simple validation check would have
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identified exculpatory evidence raising the possibility that others were
involved in illicit browsing and downloading offensive material.
Reconstruction of browsing activities is part of the validation process,
checking and testing each file is crucial to measure the truth of the matter.
This must be done before any attempt can be made to test the weight of
the evidence (Boddington 2012, 163).
The Real Impact of Lack of Awareness of the Issue among Parents and Youth
The lack of understanding of how child abuse imagery permeates the virtual world more
frequently contributes to the lack of education among adults and youth on internet safety. As
already discussed, it is important to be up to date on the latest technologies and how they can be
misused by traffickers. Perpetrators rely on the lack of security vigilance by adults and youth
alike to target their victims. A February 2014 study by the BBC in UK corroborates this point; it
can be assumed that the findings are similar around the world. Researchers found that in the UK,
“…over 20% of parents do not monitor what their children are doing online (BBC News
Technology 2014). Moreover, David Emm, a senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab
declares that “When children use mobile devices to access the web, they are using the same
internet, with the same risks. There is a common misconception that smartphones and tablets
don’t need the same level of restriction as a PC” (BBC News Technology 2014).
However, there is a solution to the lack of awareness of internet safety awareness among
adults, especially parents/guardians. Schools should partner with law enforcement and
technology companies to have workshops at least twice a year that teach them about safe
practices online and how to install necessary security features and filters on all electronic devices
that require an internet connection. In the subsection titled “Involving Parents and Educators,”
engaging children as educators of their parents about the Internet is discussed. These workshops
can also include students of the school to highlight the importance of communication and trust
between both parties. Law enforcement and technology companies can explain in more detail the
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importance of monitoring one’s child’s activity online and how to apply filters for extra security
and how they work. Tony Neate, CEO of Get Safe Online, in UK informed BBC
Without using controls such as built-in security, safety, and
privacy features and search engine filters, children will almost
certainly run into something that really isn’t appropriate for
their age, or any age. The survey also found that teenagers aged
13-16 were more vulnerable to being bullied online that those aged 8-12.
However, parents worried less about the older group using a tablet (BBC
News Technology 2014).
Trauma Effects on Children-Boys Can be Victims Too- Eliminating
Gender Bias
There is this common misconception among society that victims of CSEC are solely girls
and not boys because females are perceived to be the weaker sex, subject to vulnerabilities. In
contrast, the general public believes males are the stronger sex and are able to defend themselves
when needed. This gender stereotype is harmful to children and the rest of society. There are
girls who are strong-willed and passionate just as there are boys who might not have the strength
to defend themselves physically and emotionally because they are insecure. One needs to
remember that as humans, we are not all the same and experience different emotions and have
different abilities. With this gender stereotype, one is essentially stating that it is expected for
girls to become victims because it is in their “nature” and if boys become victimized it is their
fault for not being “brave and smart enough” to fend off the predator (s). This mentality will only
continue to corroborate the actions of traffickers and buyers who believe they will not be
apprehended and prosecuted for their actions.
Steven Procopio, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker wrote a news article for
CNN about the need to address boy victims of CSEC in all its forms. The survivor he met with
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“Brian” shared with Procopio his problem of domestic violence at home and drug abuse.
Desperate to leave his abusive home, “Brian” began to sell his body online via Skype, which
were live sex encounters with customers. When his parents learned of “Brian’s” activity online,
they kicked him out because they believed it made him homosexual. The survivor has since then
been placed under the care of the Department of Children and Families (Procopio 2014, 1-2).
The behavior of the parents is indicative of the fear and unwillingness among individuals that
victims can also be boys and that the boys’ sexuality should not be the prime concern. This only
discourages boys from seeking help because they do not want to be shamed or to be “fixed” by
society in regards to their sexuality. Victims of both genders can be heterosexual or homosexual.
Steven Procopio states
Indicators of abuse among males are most often not even
recognized due to the assumption that boys can “take care
of themselves…” First there is a sense of shame and stigma about being
gay or being perceived as gay by family that keeps boys from selfidentifying as sexually exploited. And whole boys are not always
forthcoming about their experiences of exploitation, they are also not
being asked. Law enforcement and service providers often fail to screen
or assess boy at intake with the misguided belief that boys are not victims
of CSEC…” (Procopio 2014, 2)
This reality serves as a call for law enforcement, first responders, and the community that
minor victims of sex trafficking, both online and offline, need to always be helped. Sex
trafficking of children is not a gender and/or a sexual orientation question. Rather, it is a question
of protecting the human rights and dignity of the human race; one has the right to protect one’s
own body from harm and from maintaining autonomy over one’s person. Victims of trafficking
are never at fault for what the perpetrators and buyers inflicted on them; they are taken advantage
of as traffickers prey on their weaknesses and what they lack in life: emotionally, financially, and
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also in relationships. For a child, the trafficker represents financial security and a source of love
that was absent in his or her family. Also for children who feel excluded from their peer groups
or who lack friends and social skills, their trafficker represents to them the only person who
accepts them for who they are. The way society and first responders perceive the issue of sex
trafficking and the victims needs to change so that victims feel comfortable confiding to them
about their need for help.
In addition, all victims experience trauma at various levels. Steven Procopio shares that
“It has been estimated that as many as 50% of commercially sexually exploited children are
boys. Many boys involved in commercial sexual exploitation have a history of complex trauma
that often started with childhood sexual abuse and the reality is that approximately one in six
boys in the U.S. has a history of sexual abuse” (Procopio 2014, 2). Together we can make a
difference in the lives of at-risk and actual victims of child cyber-sex trafficking and sextrafficking. This will succeed only if there is increased awareness of the issue and more dialogue
with one’s community.
Viewing pornography and child abuse imagery by youth affects their
future relationships and their development
The discussion now turns to the viewing of pornography and/or child abuse imagery by
youth whether willingly, unwillingly, or unknowingly. With the plethora of electronic devices
that are made available in this day of age, it is easy for youth to become entrapped in the illicit
world of traffickers and buyers. The organization Young Minds, based in the United Kingdom,
conducted a survey of 2000 people ages 11-25. The results of this survey, although based in the
United Kingdom can be used to infer the situation in the United States, the Philippines, and other
countries. Results demonstrate that 11.8% of 11-14 year olds had watched pornography on their
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electronic devices by accident and 13.4% of 15-17 year olds had accessed it by accident (Blake
2014, 2). For those who accessed it regularly, 10% of 11-14 year olds do so while 11.6% of 1517 year olds access it frequently (Blake 2014, 2). These results call for direct involvement with
first responders to understand the cause of these viewings. For those who access it willingly, it
may signify a need to be accepted in a relationship or mere curiosity.
Nevertheless, for others the experience is not the same. The study by Young Minds found
that “Three quarters of 11 to 14 year olds described their reaction to watching pornography as
disturbed, upset, worried, or excited. . . However, a quarter of people questioned said they didn’t
feel anything” (Blake 2014, 2). This data confirms that prepubescent children have minimal to no
knowledge of sexual encounters and are rightfully confused when they come across it. Pubescent
children certainly have their fears and doubts but they are less profound. Help is still needed. As
Dr. Eileen Vizard, a child psychiatrist states, “With children, whose brains are still developing,
there could be long lasting effects on the way their brains function…They tend to escalate the
seriousness of what they want to look at, sexual material that involves coercive acts towards
women or maybe children” (Blake 2014, 3). If children and youth do not talk about what they
see online with a trusted adult and/or peer, they will not understand the gravity of what they are
watching and will not realize that the individuals in the videos and live sex encounters are being
oppressed and their individual autonomy is controlled.
Furthermore, continued view of this illicit material will most likely lead viewers,
especially children, to believe that this behavior is accepted in society; of utmost danger is the
belief that children might decide to engage in this type of behavior because they believe it is the
only way to be loved and accepted in society. Furthermore, continuous viewing of these websites
might cause youth’s relationships with friends, family, and significant others (if applicable) to
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become violent because “That is what you need to do to assert your presence in everyday life.”
This sentiment is especially true of those youth who watch these pornographic websites together.
Young Minds found that those between the ages of 11 to 14 participated more in this shared
viewing of pornography than 15-18 year olds of which only 29% of those surveyed had engaged
in watching pornography together (Blake 2014, 2). Therefore, continued dialogue is important
among children, teachers, parents, first responders, and other trusted adults.
What to do When the Perpetrator is the Child’s Parent and the Buyer is a
Teenager?
Once again, one needs to stop making generalizations of the crime of cyber-sex
trafficking and sex-trafficking in general. Just as the gender, sexuality, and age of the victim(s)
do not matter, the gender, sexuality, and age of the trafficker and buyer is not standard either. In
March 2011, a 32 year-old mother of four from Maine was charged to 20 years in jail for
producing sexually explicit videos with her two-year old daughter for Nicholas Wilde, a teenager
from Sheffield, England. He was sentenced to four years in jail in February 2010 (Daily Mail
Reporter 2011, 1-2).
This proves that sex-trafficking in all its forms, and human trafficking in general is a
complex issue. It is hard to believe that a parent: mother or father—generalizations should be
avoided—would sell their child (children) for sex, let alone produce the heinous images. The
reasons for these actions may be economic or a desperate need to be loved and accepted by
someone in their life. In this particular international case, Ms. Carr and Mr. Wilde met on an
internet dating site, which then led to the teenage boy instructing Ms. Carr to engage in sexually
explicit activities with her two year-old daughter. The case was revealed thanks to a 16 year old
girl who received child abuse imagery from Wilde via an internet chat room. In this situation, the
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teenage girl reacted positively by notifying her mother who then contacted the appropriate
authorities (Daily Mail Reporter 2011, 1-2).
Judge Woodcock, who overlooked this child abuse imagery case states, “What you have
done, Ms. Carr is violate the most basic bond of society, the bond between a mother and her
child, between a mother and her daughter. It is incumbent upon me to protect… the people who
can’t protect themselves. I’ll tell you unequivocally that yours is the worst case I’ve ever seen….
I have always thought possession was bad enough, but production is another level of evil” (Daily
Mail Reporter 2011, 2). Judge Woodcock does make an important point, production of child
abuse imagery, especially by a loved one does seem to worse than mere possession; however,
one needs to focus on all aspects of child abuse imagery in order to combat it effectively.
Conclusion
Cyber-sex-trafficking is a new phenomenon which needs better legislation and policy,
particularly in the U.S. The Philippines presents an excellent example of legislation that should
be adopted by national governments. Since this crime is borderless and offers ease of mobility to
perpetrators, technology needs to be improved and shared with countries around the world;
sharing of knowledge and resources is a strong force for global civil society which should
decrease the number of cases of cyber-trafficking. Moreover, this information should be shared
with law enforcement to facilitate the identification of a potential situation and the actual
prosecution of the crime. Lastly, these efforts would be ineffective without the active
participation of parents/guardians and educators in effective online safety discussions with youth.
Dombrowksi et al. argue that “Technology should supplement, not replace, the actions of
caregivers” (Dombrowski et al. 2007, 164). Therefore, even if parents and educators insert
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security features on computers, it will not serve its purpose if youth know how to disable it and
continue to interact with strangers online. Constant dialogue is needed to ensure that safety rules
are followed, preferably those devised by youth themselves. Together, global civil society can
make the world a safer place for children.
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