Sexual Abuse

National Legislations

The vast majority of children who are sexually abused are the victims of people that they know: parents, step parents, relatives, teachers, neighbourg, etc. However, there are a considerable number of sex offenders who are prepared to spend a significant period of their lifetime infiltrating organizations or orchestrating opportunities to work with children or qualify in professions which afford them substantial access to children and young persons in order to abuse them.

People who sexually offend against children operate in different ways and fit into different categories. They come from all countries, all cultures and all religions. They are anonymous to the general population and work and live alongside colleagues and neighbours who generally accept them as ‘normal’ people.

The general conception is that all sex offenders are predatory offenders who will covertly target a victim abduct them and sexually abuse them. This type of offender is the exception rather than the rule, however, they are the most dangerous and are often reported in the media as abductions which can and often do lead to the murder of a child.

In general predatory child sex offenders tend to be male, less than average intelligent and are incapable of undertaking any prolonged period of grooming. They generally fit into a stereotypical offender profile, living alone or with a parent, unemployed or in low paid work and unable to form adult relationships.

Their cycle of offending is also typical and begins with the basic attraction and sexual arousal by thoughts of children. Such a person will typically be in possession of either child erotica or child pornography with which he will fantasize and masturbate. At this stage he can certainly be described as, and fits the definition of, a paedophile. However, other than possessing child pornography, which is not an offence in many countries, he does not commit any offences. The reason why this type of person does not proceed beyond this stage is as a result of internal and external inhibitors or both.

Internal inhibitors are personal factors which control a person's behavior. The knowledge that it is morally wrong to sexually abuse a child or that sexual activity with a child can seriously damage the mental welfare of his victim in the future.

External inhibitors are far more basic and evolve around the fear of being caught and going to prison linked with the knowledge that their personal lifestyle would be seriously affected if it became public that they are sexually attracted to children.

Once the internal and external inhibitors have been removed, possibly by a period of stress or boredom then the peadophile moves into the cycle of offending. He begins by going out to places where there are many children, a playground or swimming pool for example.

They then identifiy a child who is either alone or appears vulnerable and begins to make contact, possibly offering gifts, a cigarette or a ride in a car. At this time nothing further may happen, the offender will go home and masturbate thinking of the child and what might have happened.

These initial stages of the cycle are then followed by a period of guilt as a result of the internal and external inhibitors and a personal promise that it will never happen again. As time passes the inhibitors are broken down and the cycle starts one again continuing until the paedophile offends against the child. There are many unknown paedophiles who fit these criteria but have never offended.

The majority of sex offenders groom their victims; this can take many months, even years, and often begins with the process of grooming the parents of the child.

The paedophile may recognize that a family is having difficulty in managing the logistics and finances of the household and befriend them with offers of assistance, both financial and in kind. Eventually having gained the trust of the parent, the offender then offers to baby sit or take the child on outings during which time he then moves on to begin the process of grooming the child victim.

This part of the grooming process is the most crucial. The paedophile knows that he has to be able to control the child to the extent that he can sexually abuse him or her and that the child will not disclose to another adult what happened.

This control is obtained in many different ways, fear, oppression, favours, threats against either the child or their parent, making the child feel guilty about what has happened or by using a combination of these methods.

A typical example of how a paedophile operates would be the initial identification of a vulnerable parent who has either one or a number of children. It may be a single mother who having gone through an acrimonious divorce has had to move to accommodation that is smaller or of a lesser standard than she and her children are used to. Family finances are stretched and there is less money available in the household for food, clothing and leisure activities.

Once the new family unit is stable, the paedophile will then make his move, typically he may, as part of his grooming process, slowly introduced the family into accepting communal nudity within the home by, for example, leaving bathroom doors open whilst in use.

Eventually the paedophile will sexually abuse his victim, he will have perfected a strategy to ensure their silence utilizing one or a number of the methods previously outlined.

In this example, it isn’t difficult to comprehend the dilemma that the child has been put in. Her mother has found a new partner in life, she is very happy, the paedophile will have told his victim that if she ‘tells’ then he will go to prison, there will be no extra money coming into the household, there will be no more nice holidays for her and her mother. Her mother won’t believe her and will not love her anymore as a result. In order to protect her mother's happiness and the new family, the victim remains silent.

This example is typical of how a paedophile may identify and ultimately abuse a child anywhere in the world, however, there are many other scenarios which could be used to describe how paedophiles infiltrate families, communities or organizations with the sole intent of sexually abusing children.

INTERPOL has recently increased the number of specialised officers directly involved in combating child sexual abuse and intends to continue to raise the growing awareness to the international problem surrounding the worldwide sexual exploitation of children. Its eradication is the responsibility of all governments and law enforcement agencies. The future of the world is in the hands of tomorrow’s adults, who are today’s children. They are the most precious commodity the world has. The not only deserve, but have a right to all the protection which we can afford.