Kamala Budhathoki Sarup
Published in Cape May County Herald. http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/article_8b083070-6ad8-11e6-8a75-ab77029456af.html
New Jersey police arrested 40 people
from every county in N.J. in August 2016, for the possession and
distribution of child pornography. N.J. State Police said the arrests
were "the result of a proactive scanning of Internet traffic to discover
who was sharing and downloading these files across N.J."
A conviction for possessing pornographic
images that are illegal or involves a minor is considered one of the
greatest crimes in the country and can result in fines, and convictions
including up to 15 years in federal prison as well as registration as a
sex offender.
Child pornography is one of the major
leading causes of the exploitation and abuse of a minor or person under
the legal age of consent. Usually, it involves children below the age of
18 years. It is also often associated with child prostitution or
becoming a sex slave.
Child pornography not only includes
videos but writing and pictures which are produced by either direct
involvement or simulation. Even though serious laws are present against
these activities it is still prevailing as well as growing in number.
Yury Fedotov, executive director of the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, states that "the exploitation
of children is not a new phenomenon, but the digital age has exacerbated
the problem and created more vulnerability to the children.”
There are numerous factors that make
children more vulnerable to online abuse. The globalized and anonymous
cyber space also helps predators escape detection in new ways, and a
multitude of technical challenges hinder police abilities to identify
and address child pornography offenses. A lack of an appropriate
legislation across the globe is also a major impediment for
investigations and prosecutions.
While observing the present scenario,
the explicit picture of children affected by sexual crimes can be seen.
Moreover, it has highly affected the sector of education. Therefore,
thousands of minors have been directly hampered in the field of
education. With the growing child pornography crime throughout the
world, I urge to have more legal rights in expectation for their better
safety. I think doing so will also increase social and community
motivation because it is easy to avoid child pornography but hard to
eliminate it.
Biraj Budhathoki, a civil engineer
working to defend children's rights in Asia said, "Minors especially
living on or below the poverty line are "extremely vulnerable" towards
sexual crime and also they are under threat from HIV/AIDS. The
psychosocial effects on children can be devastating and may haunt them
through life. Many children exposed to horrible acts of sexual violence
during key developmental years, come to accept violent acts as a normal
part of their life. This is putting young children at risk for
continuing cycles of violence.”
Community-based education is needed.
There's also a need for psychologists to
advocate for policies that support children affected by sexual
violence, and to help deliver other services, such as providing health
support in N.J. Normalcy and balance are essential to their lives and to
their emotional well-being in the community.
All emergency assistance in N.J. should
specifically address sexual violence and it must be brought under
control. There can no longer be any excuses, no acceptable argument for
exploiting children for sex, and child pornography in N.J.
