Remarks by Mary Banotti for the Public

Remarks by Mary Banotti for the Public Hearing on “Combating Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation of Children, and Child Pornography,” Organized in Connection with a New Legislative Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Combating Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation of Children, and Child Pornography Tuesday, 28 September 2010 Brussels, Belgium Chairman López Aguilar; Madame Rapporteur; members of the Committee of the European Parliament on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs; fellow panelists; and distinguished guests – as a former member of the European Parliament, and a staunch advocate for children’s rights, I am most pleased to be here with you today, participating in this public hearing. I am Mary Banotti, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, a non‐governmental organization headquartered in the United States, working on a global level to protect children from abduction and sexual exploitation, with a particular focus on child pornography. Through research, technical assistance, advocacy, and training, we strive to inform policy makers, law enforcement, and others in an effort to enhance and enrich front‐line practices. I have been on the International Centre’s Board of Directors for a number of years now, and in October of 2002, it was my honor and privilege to host the Board in Dublin. In conjunction with the Board meeting, the International Centre convened a day‐long forum – at the European Commission offices, as I was an MEP representing Ireland at that time – to explore the extent of the problem of child pornography, and to discuss how to raise the awareness of the child pornography issue within the international community. Participants at the Dublin Forum also acknowledged the contributions of the European Commission to our understanding of the issues related to child sexual exploitation through the Daphne and STOP Programmes, and other mechanisms, and considered whether the European Commission could help facilitate new laws and legislation to empower law enforcement to be more effective on the issue of child pornography. I am happy to note that, in the eight years since our Dublin Forum, the European institutions’ good work continues. Arising out of the Forum discussions was ultimately the creation of the Dublin Plan, a 10‐point action agenda for the International Centre to combat the heinous crime of child pornography. Among the key elements of the Dublin Plan was the development and promotion of model legislation to ensure harmonized and consistent law among nations. Hence, a large part of the International Centre’s global movement to make the world a safer place for all children consists of advocating for and proposing changes to laws, treaties, and systems to protect children worldwide. So, I am particularly appreciative of the opportunity to share with you the International Centre’s reflections on the issues at hand, and the legislative proposal that is currently being debated in the European Parliament for a Directive of the Parliament and Council on combating sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children, and child pornography. Page 1 of 5 One of the greatest challenges we confront as champions of child safety, child protection, and children’s rights globally, is the fact that few of the world’s nearly 200 countries have any kind of meaningful system in place to adequately and effectively combat the sexual exploitation of children, especially through child pornography. In fact, the International Centre’s research shows that out of 196 countries around the world, only 45 have legislation sufficient to combat child pornography offenses and a shocking 89 have no legislation at all that specifically addresses child pornography. Moreover, an additional 52 countries do not define “child pornography”, 18 do not provide for computer‐facilitated offenses, and 33 do not criminalize the knowing possession of child pornography, regardless of the intent to distribute. There is a common misconception that child pornography is a “victimless” crime, but this could not be further from the truth. Child pornography images are photographic or video records of the sexual abuse, degradation, molestation, and assault of a child. And with the advent of the Internet, child pornography has become a global crisis of epidemic proportion. Those who prey on children are now using computer technology to organize, maintain, and increase the size of their child pornography collections. Personally‐ manufactured illegal images of children are especially valuable on the Internet, and oftentimes molesters will trade images of their own sexual exploits. When these images reach cyberspace, they are irretrievable and can continue to circulate forever. The images become a permanent record of the abuse inflicted upon that child. Each and every time such an image is viewed, traded, printed, or downloaded, the child in that image is re‐victimized. The physical and psychological harm to children depicted in these images is incalculable, and the continual circulation of images harms children in a manner comparable to the actual production of the image itself. For these reasons, it is imperative that legislation aimed at combating child sexual exploitation address child pornography offenses, and also take into consideration advances in technology – past, present and future. Moreover, a comprehensive legislative strategy that is aimed at combating child pornography and that allows law enforcement to aggressively investigate and prosecute offenders must extend beyond the criminalization of certain actions by perpetrators. While such is of obvious importance, of equal value are: adequately defining the terminology that is used in national penal codes; legislating corporate social responsibility; enhancing sanctions; forfeiting assets; and strengthening sentencing provisions. In 2006, the International Centre released its groundbreaking report entitled Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review. The report, which is now in its 6th edition, not only provides an analysis of national child pornography legislation in 196 countries – as mentioned above – but it also sets out the International Centre’s recommendations for key concepts – focusing on definitions, offenses, mandatory reporting, and sanctions/sentencing – that should be taken into consideration when drafting anti‐child pornography legislation. And I am so pleased to note that many of our recommendations are reflected in the legislative proposal that is the subject of this hearing. In particular, the International Centre recommends that: • “Child” for the purposes of child pornography offenses – and all child sexual exploitation offenses – is defined as anyone under the age of 18, regardless of the age of sexual consent. While a child under the age of 18 may consent to sexual relations, such a child is legally incapable of consenting to any Page 2 of 5 form of sexual exploitation, to being abused, exploited, raped, and molested on camera, for the lurid enjoyment and benefit of others. • The phrase “child pornography” is defined and that this definition includes computer‐ and Internet‐ specific terminology. • Offenses specific to child pornography are created within the national penal code, including criminalizing the knowing possession of child pornography, regardless of one’s intent to distribute, and including provisions specific to downloading or viewing images on the Internet. • There are criminal penalties for parents or legal guardians who acquiesce to their child’s participation in child pornography. • Those who make known to others where to find child pornography are penalized. • Grooming provisions are included, which penalize online enticement and the use of the Internet to entice, invite, or persuade a child to meet for sexual acts, or to help arrange such a meeting. • Attempt crimes are punished, the rationale behind which is to punish an individual who has demonstrated an inclination to commit such a crime without having to wait for the completion of the crime (i.e., the victimization of a child). Punishing attempt crimes can serve as an early warning to an offender, who is put on notice from his or her first misstep that even incomplete crimes against children will not be tolerated. • Mandatory reporting requirements are established for healthcare and social service professionals, teachers, law enforcement officers, photo developers, information technology professionals, ISPs, credit card companies, and banks. • The criminal liability of children victimized by child pornography is addressed. There should be no criminal liability for children involved in pornography, and such should be clearly stated in national legislation. Regardless of whether a child is a compliant victim or a non‐cooperative witness, the fact remains that he or she is a child victim. Criminal liability must focus on the adult offender, who is responsible for the exploitation of the child, and on the crimes he or she committed against that child. • Penalties for repeat offenders and organized crime participants are enhanced, and other aggravated factors are considered upon sentencing. The arrival of the Internet coupled with the ease in travel across borders means that we live in a world in which the old rules no longer apply. Children have become tradable commodities for sale or use. Child victims can be anywhere, in absolutely any country, and can be moved almost anywhere; and, similarly, those who seek

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