ABOUT CROSSING
BORDERS
Bas Vogelvang
Avans University
Lessons learned and reaffirmed
in the Robert M. sex-offender case.
1. Internationally active
2. Very young children

1. Less vulnerable for detection and trial
 Very

young children
2. Victim’s age and abuser relationship:
Victim’s age
0-5 (10%)
6-11 (58%)
12-17 (32%)
Family
Other
member acquaintance
49%
48%
42%
53%
24%
66%
Stranger
3%
5%
10%


Barriers: 1) arrange availability 2) use force
3) avoid detection 4) minimize guilt
Snyder, 2000
3. Offender age
4. Offender type

3. Relatively young:
Age
<21
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
>60
%
3%
10%
24%
37%
19%
6%
WODC 2004

4. ‘Lover’ and predator:
Strong pedosexual
preoccupation
Frequent child contact
‘lover’, often homosexual
Incidental / infrequent child contact
Weak pedosexual
preoccupation
incest
pedosexual predator opportunistic predator
Knight & Prentky, 1990
5. Internet sharing
6. Out of sight

5. Not very common, increased his vulnerabilility



Linked with organized crime
6. Robert M. profited from a lack of transnational
legislation and co-operation
cross-national pedosexual child abuse is only one
dimension of cross-national child sexual exploitation:
Child Sex Tourism
 Child Trafficking
 Child Pornography
 Child Cybercrime
 Associated ‘demand and market related’ crime

Child sex tourism destination countries
Vogelvang, Wolthuis & van den Braak 2004
Child sex tourism: offender types
ECPAT 2010

Situational child sex offender
 Takes
the opportunities presented to him to use a minor
as sex object

Preferential child sex tourist
 Actively
travels and seeks out minors for sexual contact
 Pedosexuals as subgroup, sometimes working together

Both types of offenders create a local demand in
receiving countries
Creation of a sex tourist market

sexual desires and self-created opportunities of sex-offenders

poverty and underdevelopment, lack of education, urge for survival

political and social disruption and the existence of organized crime

lack of or insufficient national and extraterritorial laws, combined with corruption and
lack of enforcement



legal tourist activity (hotels, bars, transport) also profits from the sex tourist market
cultural factors, most importantly opinions about girls and females and sexuality of
minors, often religiously motivated
family circumstances

family pressure

sexual offending within the family

broken families and runaway children / orphans / adoption

 child trafficking

 child labour
Example: Baltic states, 2000




Downfall of communism: no immediate alternative
social structure
Prostitution amongst street children
Russia and Scandinavia as sending countries
Linked with organized crime and trafficking to both
Western Europe and Baltic states
Child trafficking in one year


1.2 million children trafficked worldwide (UN).
Europe: 200,000 individuals trafficked annually from
eastern Europe

Significant proportion being children being forced into child
labour, prostitution and crime.

Terre des Hommes: 6,000 children between the ages of 12 and
16, with more than 650 being forced to work as sex slaves in
Italy.
Increase of abuse of adoption procedures
 Internet allows for finding and abusing children outside
holiday resorts  change in trafficking destinations

Child pornography and Cybercrime

Child pornography:



Production increasingly linked to child sex tourism
Consequently linked to trafficking of children to produce new
pornographic material
Cybercrime:



Linked with blackmail, child pornography, child trafficking and child sex
tourism
Increase of online solicitation of children for self-generated webcam
child abuse material
ECPAT:



Link equivalent legislation in all jurisdictions with integrated partnerships with
the private sector, NGOs, education specialists and other stakeholders
Example: ROBERT: Risk taking Online Behaviour Empowerment through
Research and Training
Internet and Online Service Providers need to install reporting mechanisms
Response is slow but steady








Pioneering work of NGOs and intergovernmental organizations, such as the United
Nations
Followed by governments by increasing number of international conventions and
treaties.
World Congresses Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation (Stockholm 1996,
Yokohama in 2001).
Europe: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography. Adopted 2000.
Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual
Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime
Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on protecting the dignity, security and
privacy of children on the Internet
> 30 countries with extraterritorial laws that allow the prosecution of their nationals
for crimes committed abroad, regardless of whether the offense is punishable in the
country where it occurred.
Heroes

Children at Risk in Baltic Sea Region

CRIN - Child Rights Information Network

ENOC - The European Network of Ombudsmen



ISPCAN - International Society for Prevention of Child
Abuse and Neglect
SEECRAN - South East European Child Rights Action
Network
ECPAT - End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes

Save The Children

The Separated Children in Europe Programme

ICMEC - The International Centre for Missing & Exploited
Children

EURONET - The European Children's Network

EveryChild
Operation Predator
Operation Rescue / Europol
Recommendations: improve …


Prevention and treatment of (repeat) victims in receiving countries
Offender treatment availability and efforts for social inclusion combined with control and supervision,
e.g. Circles of Support and Accountability

National and extraterritorial laws for sex offenders

Self-regulation and participation in legislation of (inter-)national organizations:


international / global trade companies,

tourist industries and national tourism departments,

national police and justice departments

internet providers
Role of NGOs combating child sexual abuse: Help them to ...

combine their efforts for collecting information and sharing it with (inter-) national organizations

launch more worldwide awareness campaigns and local support programs

Hiring protocols and integrity screening of professionals & volunteers working with children

Assessment and intervention competence of police officers and child protection workers
It is the spirit and
not the form of
law that keeps
justice alive
Earl Warren
contact : bo.vogelvang@avans.nl