Special Report:

What More Needs to be Done—Recommendations

7. Learning to Better Help Victims

“Long term effects of being photographed were more debilitating… exacerbated by the knowledge that others may see or distribute the films…knowledge that photos may be used to exploit other children.”¹²²

“Little is known about the full and long term impact of being used in pornography upon children and their families, their coping strategies and the support they do or do not receive.”¹²³

Therapists, law enforcement and victim services have years of experience dealing with child sexual abuse victims, but there is growing recognition that the making of child sexual abuse images and their distribution complicate the aftermath of the sexual abuse. This has an impact on the recovery of victims and the delivery of services to those victims.

“Due to its relatively new nature, the Internet adds novel and specific elements of victimization that have never been present in the past. Of particular concern is the fact that the Internet provides a permanent, uncontrollable record of abuse; if child sexual abuse images of videos of victimization exist on the Internet, they will never disappear. This aspect of victimization has devastating effects on victims including: victim silencing; self-blame for the abuse; increased levels of trauma; shame and embarrassment knowing that others have/will see the abuse on the Internet; decreased amounts of disclosure; and, victims taking a longer amount of time to recover from the abuse in comparison to exploitation without recording.”¹²⁴

Given these complications, it is necessary that the professionals who are helping victims and their families learn more about dealing with this particular type of abuse, methods for coping and signs of further distress.

Dr. Sharon Cooper recommends that those who work with child sexual abuse victims,

“…have to learn how to ask the right questions about the possibility that a child’s victimization may have entailed production, dissemination, possession or extortion through the use of child sexual abuse images…” because “…children not only typically do not tell of their abuse, but will in fact deny the presence of images…. This background of having pictures and videos taken of one’s sexual abuse is a significant risk factor for substance abuse, mental health problems and run away behaviours.”¹²⁵

Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the additional suffering that the distribution of child sexual abuse can cause when it reinstated a more severe sentence for a father who was convicted of sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter and of making, distributing and possessing child pornography. At the time of his arrest, his computer contained approximately 5,300 pornographic photographs and 540 pornographic videos involving children, many of which included his daughter. The trial judge imposed the maximum sentence of 10 years for sexual assault and another 5 years for the other offences but the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence from 15 to 9 years. Supreme Court Justice LeBel said, “I note that L.M. disseminated his pornography around the world over the Internet. The use of this medium can have serious consequences for a victim. Once a photograph has been posted on the Web, it can be accessed indefinitely, from anywhere in the world. R.M. will never know whether a pornographic photograph or video in which she appears might not resurface someday.”¹²⁶

At the victims’ level, a psychological assessment and treatment model is being developed for children and their families as part of the Ontario Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet.¹²⁷ Additionally, the Ontario Victim Services Secretariat at the Ministry of the Attorney General offers a program to pay for counselling for young victims of sexual exploitation on the Internet who were under the age of 18 when the crime took place. The program also helps their family members. Over 385 victims have been assisted in Ontario and over 90 people have accessed the special compensation fund to assist victims and their families to access counselling.¹²⁸

Answering tough questions

The problem is that there has been little research into these issues. According to BOOST, “Among many regions, there is a lack of understanding about the experience of victims who have been sexually exploited on the Internet…compared to other forms of child maltreatment, there is a relatively small amount of research and literature about Internet child exploitation.”¹²⁹

Despite the successes, the relatively small number of victims who have been identified and their young age, combined with the lack of experience with the long-term impacts that these images may present, means there are many questions but few satisfactory answers at this time. So far, much of the work victim services have done is with adolescent females who have been targeted by adult men online, and these cases may present entirely different dynamics than cases involving images and abuse.¹³⁰

More work needs to be done to answer some important questions. What should be done when victims have grown up but are unaware that images were made? What should happen when law enforcement discovers old images? Should those victims be notified (if they are identified)? If so, how? At what age? What if a child does not disclose that images were made? If a child denies the images or videos, should the child be challenged?

As Jonah Rimer stated, “Very little is known about the psychological effects on adults who are told that there are child abuse images of them on the internet and careful thought must go into the time and way in which such a revelation should take place.”¹³¹

There are also the questions that surround victims who know already that these images exist. Victims may be concerned about how those viewing the images (i.e. police officers) may perceive them. Many abusers force victims to appear as if they are enjoying what is happening, and therefore a victim may be concerned that police will think they really enjoyed it. Child sexual abuse images and videos may, in some cases, challenge the perceptions and beliefs that authorities have of child sexual abuse victims (i.e. that they are always non-compliant victims forced to perform).

Retired FBI Agent Kenneth Lanning said, “Society has a problem dealing with any sexual-victimization case in which…the child victim is not completely good. The idea that child victims could simply behave like human beings and respond to the attention and affection of offenders by voluntarily and repeatedly returning to an offender’s home is a troubling one. It confuses us to see the victims in child pornography cases giggling or laughing.”¹³²

The international organization End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes also makes the point that “Practitioners report that a child in this situation may feel that the existence of imagery of their humiliation masks the violence they have experienced and makes them appear complicit. This dilemma adds an extra traumatic burden.”¹³³

Sexual abuse is never the child’s fault as they are legally incapable of consent. But for some victims, the abuse has become so normalized that they have adopted coping methods that may shock us. One investigator described one case where he saw the grooming of a victim, which started with taking normal photos, then led to harmless play, culminating in sexual abuse. At the “end” of the process, the victim was directing some of the abuse, negotiating for presents or money to participate and perform certain acts.

For these reasons and more, victims often do not disclose that photos were taken or videos were made. Even when confronted with such discoveries, some victims will refuse to acknowledge their existence. Children “can easily suffer further harm if they are pressured to verify the authenticity of an abuse image.”¹³⁴

This must be taken into consideration when law enforcement makes a decision on how to approach child victims to learn more information about the offender or the crime.

Law enforcement techniques that may be helpful in traditional child sexual abuse cases need to be re-examined in cases involving child sexual abuse images. For example, police often videotape children giving statements in cases of child sexual abuse. In Canada, these videos may be used in court and can be beneficial to the prosecution of child sexual abuse cases. But concerns have been raised that “…taking video evidence from a child already forced to make abuse images could further the harm done to the child.”¹³⁵ For children who have been the subject of abusive images, the use of a televized link may trigger memories or flashbacks to their abusive experiences.

All in all, it is clear that a lot of work needs to be done to help law enforcement, psychologists, counsellors and other key professionals understand how best to help victims of Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse.

• ¹²² M.H. Silbert, Effects on Juveniles of Being Used for Pornography and Prostitution, in D. Zilman and J. Bryant (Eds.), Pornography: Research Advances and Policy Considerations, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989.
• ¹²³ Susan J. Creighton, “Child pornography: images of the abuse of children,” November 2003. www.nspcc.org.uk.
• ¹²⁴ BOOST Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention, “Responding to Child & Youth Victims of Sexual Exploitation on the Internet: Best Practice Guidelines.” www.boostforkids.org., p. 1.
• ¹²⁵ Dr. Sharon Cooper, Oral Testimony for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, September 19, 2006.
• ¹²⁶ R. v. L.M., 2008 SCC 31, para. 28. This case resulted from an investigation by Switzerland police into groups distributing child sexual abuse images on the Internet. Switzerland police alerted Quebec authorities about the two Quebeckers who had been identified in Internet user groups. Had this investigation into the distribution of child sexual abuse images not taken place, a father would still be abusing his daughter today.
• ¹²⁷ Dr. Jennifer Coolbear and Tanya Smith, Toronto Hospital for Sick Kids, BOOST—Responding to Child and Youth Victims of Sexual Exploitation on the Internet Conference, Collingwood, Ontario, September 2007. Part of the strategy includes coordinating the identification of victims and providing support services, and Ontario has developed a special compensation program for victims and has provided compensation to over 300 victims.
• ¹²⁸ Direct victims may receive up to $1,500 for counselling and family members may receive up to $800.
• ¹²⁹ BOOST Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention, “Responding to Child & Youth Victims of Sexual Exploitation on the Internet: Best Practice Guidelines.” www.boostforkids.org., p. 11.
• ¹³⁰ For example, some of these teens may not identify themselves as victims. In a high-profile case involving a Kingston man who manipulated hundreds of girls worldwide into performing sexual acts in front of a webcam and threatened them with exposure of the images, law enforcement reports that some of the girls did not think it was that serious. It remains to be seen what the long-term impacts of such victimization may be.
• ¹³¹ Jonah Rimer, Literature Review—Responding to Child & Youth Victims of Sexual Exploitation on the Internet, 2007, p. 52.
• ¹³² Kenneth V. Lanning, “Overview of Sexual Victimization of Children,” adapted from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Child Molesters: A Behavioural Analysis (4th ed.), 2001.
• ¹³³ ECPAT International, “Violence Against Children in Cyberspace,” 2005. p. 41.
• ¹³⁴ Ibid., p. 42.
• ¹³⁵ Ibid., p. 42.