 | | | | | |  | | | The NSPCC estimates that 26% of rape victims are children | |
| | | |  | | | | | | | | The youngest person to be placed on the UK sex offenders register for viewing child pornography on the internet is 13 years old.
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| | |  | | | Child porn and the
cybercrime treaty
A rapidly growing number of children using chat rooms on the internet have been approached online by paedophiles.
According to Ruth Dixon of the Internet Watch Foundation, "risk assessment studies" identify the most likely targets of "online enticement" (children being approached and groomed by paedophiles on the internet) are teenagers, mainly girls, between the ages of 13 and 17.
But as Ms Dixon explains, "the relative scale of the risk of children being approached in this way via the internet is extremely difficult to establish.
Evidence from the United States and the UK, provided by actual incidents and cases, does appear to indicate a growth in criminal activity of this nature over recent years."
Whilst the number of online approaches may have increased, it remains low in proportion to the growing use of the internet.
"The danger of online solicitation by a stranger", Ms Dixon asserts, "is thought to be relatively much lower than offline risk from someone known to the victim."
In an attempt to protect children from online paedophilic activity, in November 2001 the 43-nation Council of Europe adopted a cybercrime treaty, making child pornography on the internet a criminal act. | | next > |  | |
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