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.
Kamala Budhathoki Sarup
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