AntiChildPorn.Org (ACPO) is an organization, comprised of volunteers from all around the world, whose mission is to stop the sexual exploitation of the world’s children. For the past five years ACPO has been addressing the issues of Child Pornography production and distribution via the Internet, as well as the predatory use of the Internet for the sexual abuse of children.
Contrary to the claims of pro-child-abuse groups, child pornography is not just ‘pictures’. Child pornography is physical evidence of the sexual abuse of children. Worse, child pornography is commonly used by predatory pedophiles to ‘groom’ potential victims, reducing the child-victim’s inhabitations and encouraging them to perform acts similar to those depicted in the pornography. Further, pornography is used after-the-fact to re-enforce to the child that what their abuser has done to them is “ok” and “normal”, further causing confusion and trauma in the child-victim’s mind.
In addition to grooming the victims of childhood sexual abuse, child pornography also serves to reduce the reluctance of the abuser to seek and abuse a child sexually. By repeated exposure to pictures, stories, movies of children engaged in sexual acts, as well as pedophile virtual communities, the social taboos surrounding the abuse of children are weakened enough that the desire by the abuser to engage in sexual acts with children may overcome the abusers inhibitions.
Over the past several years, ACPO has witnessed the emergence of several alarming trends. First, the number and variety of pornographic pictures of children has been increasing at alarming rates. This trend may be partially due to the low-entry cost to produce child pornography offered by digital cameras. Alternatively, it is possible that we are witnessing an increase in the number of children abused as the result of greater availability of child pornographic material on the Internet, and the surge in pedophilic communities, such as fpc.net.
Second, the level of violence depicted has been increasing. More and more pictures of violent nature are being produced depicting the rape and murder of children. A recent bust shows the level of violence to which this has escalated. Finally, the production and sale of child pornography has become a major source of cash for organized crime. Advertisements for the production of child pornographic videos offer to ‘film your fantasy’ for only a few hundred dollars.
The problem with child pornography is so enormous, and so overwhelming for already taxed law enforcement resources. The US Department of Justice estimates the child pornographic market to be a $2 to 3 billion dollar-a-year market, making it one of the world’s largest cottage industries. Only by a major commitment by the governments of the world to commit to this war for our children will we stand any hope of making this a child-friendly planet.