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Let’s Talk About Porn

November 16, 2021

The way that porn has evolved from the days of magazines tucked away in bedrooms to the internet is more damaging than you think. The reality of today is that pornography is far too common, free, and accessible as well as incredibly extreme, often filled with illegal and exploitative material. What used to be limited to adult book and video stores is now accessibly 24 hours a day by any device connected to the internet. The reality is that the porn industry is just a few clicks away from a child.

According to Quartz media, the online pornography industry is an estimated $15 billion industry, which makes it more profitable that Netflix ($11.7 billion), Hollywood ($11.1 billion) or Viacom ($13.3 billion). What is even more surprising is a survey from the American Psychology Association that reported the average age for a child’s exposure to online pornography is 13 years old.

A startling research article from 2016 identified that over 65% of 13-24-year-old males and nearly 35% of 13-24-year-old females were viewing pornography at least monthly. And, in that same study less than half of parents surveyed believed their children viewed pornography. Additionally, children under the age of 10 years old make up more than 20% of visitors to internet pornography websites.

The issue of exposure is massive, and the intentional act of showing a child pornography is sexual abuse by definition. As a Child Advocacy Center, we are concerned about the availability of porn increasing the risk of children being victimized in-person or online. However, it’s incredibly difficult to limit the exposure of children to an increasingly sexualized social media space, and the bombardment of teens of normalizing online exploitation of their own bodies.

Over the years, we have seen an increase in scary trends. “Sexting,” or sending sexually explicit text messages and images, has become a rapidly growing social norm for kids and teens. The rise of Sugardaddy and Sugarbaby websites are waiting for children the day they turn 18, and OnlyFans accounts and websites have an age verification system on par with a “click here.” Children are being inundated with social media personalities selling their images every day. Media plays a large role in reinforcing this behavior in children. The nuances of adult versus child exploitation are fading away.

At Children’s Cove, we hope to support parents and caregivers in normalizing some of these uncomfortable and too uncommon conversations. We need to talk about the one topic we haven’t brought up much: porn. “Why?” you may ask, especially when we have already discussed child sexual abuse material quite often, and the ways in which exploitation impacts children. You might think that porn is seemly something which may fall outside of our wheelhouse. Many moons ago that may have been the case, however, the trends and root causes of issues which do fall into our work brings porn closer to front and center than we would like it to be.

As the normalization of violent, extreme, and casual porn continues, or at the bare minimum self-exploitation of one’s own body being a non-issue, we will be witnessing increasing challenges of preventing younger and younger children from exposure.

But it doesn’t have to be like this.

Having conversations with children about what lurks on the internet is incredibly important. And talking about it in a factual way and being open to having conversations about what children may see accidentally is a necessary step of parenting in the increasingly digital world. Last year a documentary was released chronicling two parents from New Zealand who decided to learn about this issue, tackle it, and share it with other parents. A trailer to their feature film is linked here. And, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation has written a wonderful article about how to have conversations with children if you do find that they have been viewing porn, and how to approach it in a way to benefit your family.

We encourage all parents to #HaveTheConversation with their children early and often, about body safety and about online safety. To read some of our suggestions of how to be smart and safe online, visit that section on our parent’s page here.

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The Frontline of Recognizing Abuse: Teachers

October 19th, 2021

The role of teachers in the lives of our children cannot be understated. We entrust teachers with the wellbeing of our children’s growth and development, and their understanding of social norms and how the world works around us. There are many roles that teachers fill which go beyond their regular scope of work. One of the most important and often overlooked roles of teachers is that of a mandated reporter.

In Massachusetts, when mandated reporters, while working in their professional capacity, have a reasonable belief to suspect abuse or neglect to a child under the age of 18, they must immediately make an oral report to the state’s child protection agency, the Department of Children and Families (DCF), followed by a written report within 48 hours of making the oral report (this is called a 51A report.). DCF then screens the cases and determines if an investigation is warranted. Even if a case isn’t found to be in the scope of work for DCF, it is then forwarded on to the District Attorney’s Office, where it is again screened, and if it is determined that a crime has been committed, an investigation is opened by law enforcement. Most of our referrals come from DCF or law enforcement, and many of those come from a mandated report.

In the early surge of COVID-19 we saw a massive drop off in referrals to Children’s Cove for investigative forensic interviews. It impacted our numbers for the entire year in a way we have never seen. Looking at the DCF Annual Report for 2020, the data shows the decrease was not specific to us. Between March and May of 2020, DCF had a reduction of reports by more than 47%. DCF also retained a lower case count than the previous two years, lowering the numbers by 12%. Additionally, per the report, with mandated reporters such as schoolteachers making up nearly 80% of all reports, “the data shows that the closure of schools accounted for much of the decline. Once school ended, the number of 51As were comparable to what the Department historically receives during the summer and school vacations.”

Following the summer of 2020, and the opening of schools in a hybrid fashion, DCF has seen the number of reports go back up. Children’s Cove has also had an increase in our referrals and a significantly higher number of cases than last year. Our referrals have increased by 44% and there has been a 54% increase in forensic interviews. Additionally, we have had a surge of referrals for cases involving commercial sexual exploitation of children by more than 86% over the previous fiscal year.

Teachers are the mandated reporters who children spend most of their time with. Teachers fill a critical role in the early recognition and reporting of suspected abuse. They are trusted confidants who children turn to for help, whether something is something is happening at home or elsewhere. With more than 60% of alleged offenders in cases last year being parents or caretakers, we know that a teacher or school staff member is often the trusted adult children will go to first.

Children’s Cove provides education, training, and professional development for any child-facing organization across the Cape and Islands at no-cost. Training for the recognition of signs and symptoms of abuse is something rarely provided for the staff at many of these organizations. With our evidence-based curriculum utilized statewide in collaboration with the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance, we can work together to stem the tide of child sexual abuse by equipping teachers with the tools they need to effectively recognize and respond to those signs of abuse and minimize the trauma to children which follows a disclosure.

Teachers are on the frontline of recognizing abuse, and Children’s Cove is here to provide support to one of their most critical roles.

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Safety, Security, Privacy, and the Victimization of Children Lost in it All

September 1, 2021

In 2018 The New York Times reported that more than 45 million images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), federally known as child pornography, existed on the internet. This number has been growing exponentially since the beginning and subsequent boom of the internet age. With nearly 48% of the global population now having smart phones, and even more with the access and ability to carry a device in their pockets, perpetrators of sexual abuse of children are more easily able to photograph or film their assaults. Furthermore, children who are being manipulated or threatened are more often able to generate their own sexual exploitation and abuse images. As access to these devices and the internet increases, the sexual abuse and exploitation of children being published online continues to grow.

Warnings and reports from the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) assert that the impacts of COVID-19 and the increased push of children into online spaces has increased the risk of online sexual exploitation of children. At Children’s Cove we saw firsthand an increase in these online cases, as did the other regional Child Advocacy Center’s in Massachusetts. And indeed, amongst our community of professionals we saw not only that children are increasing their time online, but perpetrators of abuse and exploitation are also online more.

The New York Times article also stated that in 2008 the issue of CSAM was already an epidemic (a term which holds a more household understanding now) and in 2018 it was a crisis at the breaking point. So where are we in 2021? Much like the discussion related to the climate crisis, the opioid epidemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic: we are at a point where urgent and decisive actions need to take place. One such action was recently taken in a controversial move by technology giant Apple.

Apple recently announced it will be completing an update to its iOS operating system which will contain a tool capable of scanning and identifying child sexual abuse materials on its platforms. Working in partnership with NCMEC, which functions as the national partner to investigators working on cases involving internet crimes against children, Apple will have an automated system scan individual devices to recognize what are known as hashes of images on their phone. Each image and video created and circulating on the internet is assigned a “hash.” When CSAM images/videos are identified, their hash is stored in the NCMEC database and flagged. The Apple system will work in tandem with the NCMEC system to trigger an alert for review if it detects 30 or more known hashes on an Apple device.

Seems straightforward, so where’s the controversy?

The controversy, as raised by privacy advocates and former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, is this: “Where is the limit of what is monitored on individuals’ devices?” The action taken by Apple is effectively installing a system to monitor what you do on a private device. And while the scope of the monitoring is for random numbers and letters, the concern isn’t the process as designed and intended, but what could be done with the same implementation process. Even as Apple has steadfastly stated it will not allow this process to be abused, the discussion of privacy in our society with the increased push of technology to monitor our devices, is very worthwhile. But what are the costs we are willing to pay?

On one hand, we are talking about individual property, liberty and privacy. It is, in a certain manner of thought, a violation of constitutional privacy without due process; a potential violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, even if it is simply looking for a series of hashes. And while the allowances of digital surveillance under the Patriot Act cleared the path for this type of autonomous screening, the challenges to these types of programs have matched the pace at which this technology grows and expands.

On the other hand, as described by the mother of one victim of CSAM, “Imagine the very worst thing that has ever happened to you was recorded and then shared repeatedly for other peoples’ pleasure.” And, that this repetitious sharing continues in perpetuity- the act is relived and reshared for days, months, years and decades by those who consume the content of exploitation; the survivor continues to be revictimized. There are more than 45 million of these images and videos in existence, and the agencies that hold the perpetrators of these crimes and those who share them responsible, are outmatched and underfunded.

We are far into an epic journey wrought with the challenges of the digital age, and rapidly expanding our use of technologies with inherent dangers akin to the wild west. What actions are we willing to take? What sacrifices should be considered to protect children from exploitation and victimization?

Consider this: we are aware that private companies follow our movements online and advertise to us based on that history. We know social media companies suggest new connections based on our current connections and interests. We know that cars, phones, and GPS systems monitor our travel and upload traffic data in real-time. We know all this information is stored, sold, shared, and used for private businesses already. And, for the most part, everyone accepts this as a part of the agreement to use these devices. Why then, shouldn’t the work to protect and prevent the exploitation of children be part of the agreement too?

UPDATE:

Shortly after the writing of this piece, on September 3rd Apple made the decision to delay the rollout of its iOS update after the backlash from privacy and cybersecurity advocates claiming there were inherent safety risks. While Apple indicated the primary reason for the backlash is the handling of information and how the process works rather than the functionality, it still made the decision to delay. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offered a statement in reply, “Apple’s decision to delay their proactive measures to detect, report and remove child sexual exploitation material is disheartening. At the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, we will continue to be a voice for children and support decisions that prioritize child safety. We hope that Apple’s conviction to implement meaningful child protection features does not waver in the months to come.

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