The Virtual Reality Of Child Sexual Abuse

 

Child abuse is an evil that has permeated every corner and strata of the society, putting the childhood and innocence of many at risk. It commonly manifests as rape, sexual assault or harassment in the real world; however, on the world wide web, it takes many forms - sexual as well as non-sexual.

Online child abuse, also known as “cyber molestation”, is a unique form of child abuse in which perpetrators make use of different types of technology to coerce their targets to engage in inappropriate and illegal sexual acts, or to threaten and harm them in other ways. Abusers commonly make use of the internet, social media websites, live-stream web cameras and cell phones to carry out the crime. A study by the U.S Department of Justice (2018) showed that 76% of children’s first online encounters with sexual predators were made on chat rooms. In cases of online abuse, the perpetrator may be a stranger or someone who is previously known by the child.

In light of the world’s current situation, when individuals and nations are grappling with the Coronavirus by enforcing lockdowns and encouraging people to stay at home, two things have happened. One, predators have started to migrate online and build exploitative networks there with like-minded others. Two, children are spending an enormous amount of unmonitored time on the internet, engaging in activities related to their studies and even leisure. The co-existence of these two phenomena is what is contributing to the reported surge of online child abuse cases in recent months.

Some of the common ways in which child abuse occurs online are discussed below:

1. Cyberbullying: This occurs when any false, negative or harmful content about an individual or group is distributed online by another individual or group. This commonly leads to the individual(s) whose private information has been spread, to experience distress, humiliation, isolation, and helplessness. Bullies, who make use of technology to target their victims, often do so to establish a feeling of dominance or just as a way of entertainment - they do not realize the social and psychological impact of their action on the targeted individual(s).
   
   

2. Child Grooming: It is the act in which the perpetrator tries to establish a friendship or emotional connection with a child (sometimes with the child’s family too) intending to gain the child’s trust and reduce his/her inhibitions. After establishing a relationship, the groomer proceeds to sexually abuse/exploit the child, using ways like- engaging in conversations on sexual topics, sending nude photos/videos or coercing the child to do the same, using a webcam to carry out sexual acts. Children are often contacted by groomers on dating apps, gaming websites and photo-sharing apps too. Grooming is commonly accompanied by ‘catfishing’, which is the act of creating a fake online profile and persona, such that it will be more trustable for the child victim.
   
   

3. Child Pornography: By definition, child pornography is any visual depiction of a sexually-explicit nature involving a child. At present, pornographic material involving children is available in various forms like erotic literature, images, videos, animations, sound recordings, films and even video games. All of these form a part of the vast online network of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on which predators upload, download, share and even trade it.

Apart from these, online abuse may even take the form of live streaming - using online video applications to view, and sometimes interact with the sexual abuse of children, and sextortion - using a sexual photo/video of the child to blackmail or coerce him/her into doing what the predator wants.

Due to its virtual, distanced and anonymous nature, perpetrators find it easy to carry out Online Abuse. It can cause many emotional, psychological and social problems for the child if not handled well. While strict legal measures need to be taken to curb this global problem, each one of us at an individual level can ensure that we or any child we know does not fall prey to it.

Conversations around online safety should be encouraged, and parents or other caregivers should adequately monitor children’s online activity. Further, adequate confidence and trust should be instilled in the children so that they can come forward and report any experience of online abuse with their parents or the police.