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Paedophilia, Pets and Porn
International Action Needed to Prevent Child Pornography
An international approach is needed to prevent internet child pornography before it starts
states NAPCAN
(National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect).
“The internet has no boundaries, so state or country based regulations are
practically meaningless,” says
Adam Foster, Executive Officer for NAPCAN who suggests a twopronged approach
to the problem.
“Western countries need to partner with developing countries – where most of the exploited
children come
from – to develop a global strategy. It’s not an impossible goal. If our leaders put the child
pornography trade
on the table with other issues of general trade, or included it in their discussions on
security, we could make
significant inroads into halting this terrible exploitation of children.”
Foster also urges countries such as Australia to address the underlying causes of child
sexual exploitation.
“UNESCO has identified that street children, poor children, juveniles from broken
homes, and disabled
minors are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation and to being seduced or coerced
into the production of
pornographic material.
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“Unless we address both the forum in which these images are traded, and the underlying
causes, such as
poverty, the lives of countless innocent children will continue to be exploited.”
Foster cites a recent report which identified that Australia spends more money on caring
for pets than foreign
aid,
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which would have a substantial impact on poverty. “All Australians, governments, and the
business
community need to reconsider their priorities to prevent child pornography,” he said.
“NAPCAN applauds the recent police work on finding people who use internet child
pornography but, given
that the average paedophile commits 56 offences
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before being caught, it is clear that considerably more effort
needs to be put into preventing the offences in the first place.”
The sexual exploitation of children is of grave concern to the public. However, it is only one
part of the
serious social problem of child abuse & neglect in Australia and abroad. Last year Australia
experienced a
33% increase in the number of children proven abused. Sexual abuse accounted for 1 in
10 cases