Citation

Anillo I, Feldman D, Kennedy T. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10538712.2023.2285960

PMID

37994473

Abstract

This scoping review investigates the impact of COVID-19 on global and national trends in online child sexually explicit material (CSEM) trafficking and production in addition to online child sexual abuse (OCSA). Globally, CSEM consumption increased dramatically during the pandemic, as well as trafficking of self-generated material. The hypothesized reasons for the increase in OCSA and CSEM that guided this review included stay-at-home orders, COVID-19-related precautions, technology use increase, economic instability, and lack of available victim and legal resources. Current global and national law enforcement procedures to prevent the proliferation of online sexual abuse are reviewed with suggestions for preventing further increases in CSEM production, distribution, and consumption at the micro and macro levels.

Language: en

Keywords

COVID-19; child sexual abuse online; Child sexually explicit material; hashing technology; internet use; law enforcement; online abuse; online offending