Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime
Heard. Respected. Victims First.
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Special Report:
What More Needs to be Done—Recommendations
1. Child Pornography—A Dangerous Term
To begin, it is important to first address the term “child pornography.”
In 2007, in a special report entitled Reinforcing the International Fight Against Child Pornography, the G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministers noted that while the term “child pornography” is used commonly in legislation and international conventions, it “does not appropriately or adequately describe the severe abuse and exploitation of children that is involved in these visual representations.”
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As the Ministers point out, the real nature of the problem is, in essence, sexually explicit images or representations of children. The term “pornography,” however, is commonly understood to be associated with depictions of sexual activity between consenting individuals. Children cannot consent to sexual relations. For this reason, use of the term “child pornography” mischaracterizes sexual representations where children are involved. The term does not properly convey the real harm that is experienced by young victims and the seriousness of the activities of those persons who sexually exploit children in this way. “This misunderstanding compromises the effectiveness of our very important efforts to protect children from this form of sexual exploitation.”
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This applies to other similar terms, such as “kiddie porn” or “child porn,” which may also contribute to the public misperception about what law enforcement is finding on the Internet. As Jim Gamble, Chief of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, points out, “If a woman is raped and her attacker makes a video of it, no one would dare suggest the video was adult pornography. He is a rapist, not a pornographer.”
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For this reason, this report uses the term “child sexual abuse images.” We will use the term “child pornography” only when making specific reference to the Criminal Code of Canada or the laws of other countries, as there is no internationally agreed-upon term at this time.50 While no words can adequately convey the horror these children are suffering, we believe the term “child sexual abuse images” (or videos) more accurately describes that harsh reality than “child pornography.” Based on this, we recommend that legislation be amended to better distinguish child sexual abuse images from the adult, legally based commercial industry.
RECOMMENDATION 1—That the federal government introduce legislation to amend the child pornography provisions in the Criminal Code to provide a more accurate description of the crime (i.e. such as child sexual abuse images, child sexual abuse videos, child sexual abuse writings) to ensure a more accurate reflection of the harm that is done to victims.
