Anatomy of a Research Proposal

1

Cyber Sex Crimes against Children

Introduction

Cyber child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation are IT on online networks to perpetrate sexual crimes against children. United Nations defines sexual abuse against children as interactions or connections between a younger child and a more knowledgeable or older person, whether a stranger, a sibling, a friend, or a guardian. The child is used as an object to fulfill the sexual desires of that person. These connections and interactions are conducted by bribing, tricking, forcing, threatening, deceiving, or pressuring a child. Perpetrators of cyber sexual crimes attempt to abuse or abuse children by exploiting their vulnerability, trust, or differential power for sexual drives in exchange for money, gifts, sexual gratification, and other benefits. The New York Times (2020) noted that technology companies reported more than 45 million pictures and videos sent to children. These findings indicate that online networks are accelerating the rate of sex crimes against minors, with law enforcement agencies failing to contain their distribution. While estimates show an alarming trend, the effect of cybersex crimes can be measured in four methods: counting the number of perpetrators, offenses committed, images and videos distributed and downloaded, and the number of children affected. However, Akinola (2017) notes that each of the four measures produces varying figures since sex crime can take the form of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. However, adequate research has not been conducted to identify the reasons behind the rise of cyber-related sex crimes against minors. This lack of understanding of reasons makes it problematic to design measures and policies to protect children from being victimized, my online sex crime perpetrators. This study's significance is that it will increase the understanding of how parents, caregivers, teachers, and responsible child protection authorities can protect children from becoming victims of cybersex crimes and how they can prevent the efforts of sex offenders from succeeding. Forming a better foundation of preventive measures will lay a foundation for children to be saved from cybersex exploitation and fulfill their lifetime dreams and ambitions of life.

Problem statement

The large size of the internet and the significant number of online applications and platforms provide a means for sexual abusers to hide from authority. Because of the large volume of information being shared online, the traditional investigative methods of preventing child sexual abuse fail to capture every form of sexual abuse. Giachritsis et al. (2020) noted that the ease of sending friend requests, downloading online sexual images, and trading sexual content is increasing sexual exploitation cases targeting children. The images are also becoming more violent and compelling than in the past years. Parents are also contributing to the current problems by giving children more freedom over the time they spend online and the type of mobile devices they are using to go online. The availability of high-quality cameras and high-performing phones increases the speed of accessing sexual images and interacting with potential online offenders. Besides, tracing online data cannot be done manually because of the large workforce required to perform that task. This means that only technological solutions and preventive measures can prevent cases from rising exponentially. Technologies that can use artificial intelligence to shorten the time it takes to identify online perpetrators of sexual abuse are yet to be fully deployed and tested. Parents may also not be aware of what their children are doing or experiencing on social media. Most online platforms do not have the capabilities to filter content according to age or remove unacceptable content from child exposure. Exposing sexual content to children can have devastating consequences on academic performance, social and moral life, religious beliefs, psychological development, and future relationships. Exposing children to sexual content can increase their sex demand, thereby increasing the rate of early pregnancy. It can also negatively impact child sexuality, especially when exposed to sexual content from early developmental ages. Cyberspace is particularly influential and can impact social interactions. Children exposed to inappropriate content in cyberspace may exhibit behaviors that are not acceptable in the offline world. Children act and say things that they learn from older individuals, even from people they interact with within cyberspace. People in cyberspace can also interpret situations differently and make children misinterpret reality. Opportunities to distribute sexualized content can occur in multiple venues, including messaging and chat rooms, online games, emails, adverts, and ads. Some abusers are willing to travel and conduct sex trafficking or meet children they have successfully convinced online. A multifaceted approach is needed to combat cybersex crimes against children. These include law enforcement, increasing awareness, and enacting policies and regulations.

Purpose statement

The reasons behind the increase in sexual crime against children have not been explicitly uncovered. This research aims to fill this gap by identifying the reasons behind the rise of sexual abuse and exploitation cases affecting children. This research will explore how online time could potentially impact sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. It will also investigate the impact of exposing children to sexual abuse on children's education, sexuality, social life, psychological development, and early childhood pregnancy. Based on online time, this research will also identify the number of sessions that contact-driven offenders have before meeting the child victim.

On the other hand, the research will pinpoint the sessions that solicitation offenders have before exposing their child partners to sexual content. This will help determine how reducing online time can help mitigate the speed with which online sex offenders tend to arrange meetups or arrange conversations meant to activate the children victims sexually. It will also help navigate the policy approach and parental interventions needed to prevent online exposure or increase online offenders' identification by the responsible authorities. The online time will take into account when most conversations begin, the frequency of contact, and the duration of chat sessions.

Hypothesis

Reducing online time will result in the reduction of the number of children exposed to cybersex crimes. Forming a better foundation of preventive measures will lay a foundation for children to be saved from cybersex exploitation and fulfill their lifetime dreams and ambitions of life. This means that successful offenses will be inversely proportional to online time. Additionally, this study's findings will increase children’s academic performance, decrease sexual immoralities in society, reduce under-age pregnancies, and increase the achievement of lifetime dreams and aspirations. It will also maximize the success of policies designed to mitigate cybersex crimes and expose perpetrators of sexual injustices in cyberspace. The study is designed to increase the understanding of how parents, caregivers, teachers, and responsible child protection authorities can protect children from becoming victims of cybersex crimes and prevent the efforts of sex offenders from succeeding. Parents will know how to limit online time among their children, what advice they can give, and what type of devices and online sites they should avoid giving their children.

References

Abimbola-Akinola, D. A. (2017). The Cyber Crime and Internet and Internet Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Hamilton-Giachritsis, C., Hanson, E., Whittle, H., Alves-Costa, F., Pintos, A., Metcalf, T., & Beech, A. (2020). Technology-assisted child sexual abuse: Professionals’ perceptions of risk and impact on children and young people. Child Abuse & Neglect, 104651.

New York Cyber Sex Crimes. (n.d.). 1800Nynylaw.Com. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://criminaldefense.1800nynylaw.com/new-york-cyber-sex-crimes.html.