Report demonstrates increase in sex videos and images depicting and distributed by children
Washington, DC (March 11, 2015) – A new research study concludes there is an, “increasing trend for distribution of sexually explicit content produced by younger children using laptop webcams.” The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Microsoft participated in the study, examining 3,803 images and videos, of “youth-produced sexual content” depicting young people and uploaded by the children or covertly recorded by a third party. The report, “Emerging Patters and Trends Report #1 Youth-Produced Sexual Content,” was published on March 10, 2015.
“Children producing and distributing child pornography is a profoundly disturbing trend,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director, National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCSE). “We are in the midst of a public health crisis on pornography. Every public official from the president on down, public health advocates, social leaders, as well as every parent must work to solve this crisis. We know that the long-term consequences to our children involved with pornography are monumental and can include problematic, even criminal sexual behaviors, and a host of anti-social activities,” Hawkins said.
The study established that 85.9 percent of content depicting children aged 15 or younger was created using a webcam and 93 percent featured girls. While much of the content appeared to be knowingly created for websites, the study indicates that 100 percent of the content was shared to third party websites, which cannot be traced. The researchers noted a specific concern that the young people featured, “took no steps to conceal their identity or location, even in many cases using their real names.” The study also found that 667 of the images and videos evaluated featured children 15 years and younger, and of this group, 286 were 10 years or younger. The researchers said their report confirms an alarming trend of young children producing and distributing explicit content online.
Hawkins said, “The sexualized culture created by adults has primed children to become exploited by pornography. The flood of unchecked TV indecency, movies such as “Fifty Shades of Grey,” and sexually exploitive magazines such as Cosmopolitan, grooms children for the pornified culture that awaits and preys on them.”
National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCSE) encourages parents and leaders to educate themselves and protect children by visiting http://pornharmsresearch.com/resources/resources-for-parents/
If you would like to schedule an interview with Dawn Hawkins, please contact Amanda Smith at (202) 393-7245 or amanda@ncose.com.
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