First report on child pornography | National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children

First report on child pornography

News item | 12-10-2011

On October 12 2011, the National Rapporteur presented her First Report on Child Pornography to the Minister of Security and Justice and the State Secretary of Public Health, Welfare and Sport. Immediately afterwards, the Minister stated he would adopt the main recommendation of the Rapporteur: to form an integrated approach to protect children against sexual violence. The ministries of Security and Justice and Public Health, Welfare and Sport will be responsible for developing and implementing this policy of which (independent) monitoring is an essential element.

The Rapporteur conducted research on the phenomenon, and both current and possible responses. She concluded – amongst other things – that child pornography (CP), grooming, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse are all interconnected phenomena. The common denominator is sexual violence against children. According to this perspective, CP is sexual violence against children on images, sexual exploitation is sexual violence against children for profit and child sex tourism is sexual violence against children abroad. If policy and interventions are to be  effective, the Rapporteur urges the government to develop an integrated approach to protect children against sexual violence. Of course, ICT is inextricably bound up with sexual violence. Therefore, an integrated approach has to embed and embrace the online world in order to protect the children of today. For example, police should not only seize data carriers in CP cases, but in every situation where there are indications of sexual violence. And, although this year alone hundreds of children were victims of online sexual violence in the Netherlands (such as victims of CP), no treatments are available for these children which address their specific problems. Furthermore, the Dutch Advice and Notification Centres for Child Abuse do not have a digital framework yet which consequently could result in overlooking online (clues of) sexual violence. Most importantly, ‘integrated’ also means preventing sexual violence from happening in the first place and preventing re-offending and re-victimization. Responses targeting different potential offenders, victims and situations should be installed. A detailed blueprint of the integrated approach and (recommended) responses can be found in the First Report on Child Pornography.

 An English translation of the First Report on Child Pornography will be published in 2012 and will be available on this website.