ONLINE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AS THE DIGITAL CHALLENGE NOWADAYS

Abstract

The Internet and information and communication technologies have increased the potential impact of existing forms of violence, abuse and exploitation against children, among which sexual abuse is of particular concern. The need to comply with quarantine restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue of child safety in the digital space. This publication is the first search component of a broader study of strategies to combat online child sexual abuse. The purpose of the work is to determine the meaning of the concept of online child sexual abuse and to characterize its forms. The research included a review, analysis and comparison of foreign and national scientific publications on the protection of children from online sexual abuse and sexual exploitation combined with analysis of international and national strategic documents as well as standards and recommendations in a particular area. Differences in the state of development of the subject of our research in Ukraine and abroad have been witnessed. A number of concepts that refer to online child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation on the Internet and are used internationally have been considered and have been compared with the legal definitions of sexual crimes against children in Ukraine as well as terms that have become widespread in scientific and practical vocabulary. The findings suggest that there is no consensus on the use of terminology related to online child sexual abuse, which creates significant problems for the development of legislation, policy formulation and implementation, prevention and control programs, data collection and evaluation, and inter-agency cooperation. Our own definition of the concept of «online child sexual abuse» arises at the intersection of such phenomena as violence, sexual violence, and violence on the Internet. The types of online child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse have been described. The main forms of online child sexual abuse have been identified, which include: access to age-inappropriate content (explicit or offensive); reputation damage as a result of the publication of personal and intimate material (in the public domain or in private correspondence); threats of breach of confidentiality, blackmail and exploitation; unacceptable contact with the threat of harm in real life. Harmonization of terms and definitions in the field of combating online child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse is a prerequisite for bringing Ukrainian legislation closer to international standards for child protection from violence.