Certain countries are well known for being destination countries for sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism (SECTT). Various factors are assumed to be at play to... Show moreCertain countries are well known for being destination countries for sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism (SECTT). Various factors are assumed to be at play to increase the vulnerability of countries, and the children that live within them, to being destinations for SECTT. The current study uses a cross-national, quantitative approach to examine these assumptions, by investigating macro-level factors relating to tourism, children's living conditions, governance, and economic development that may account for the variation in SECTT occurrence. Our findings indicate that destination countries are, on average, characterized by lower economic wealth and are located closer to the equator. Unlike assumed in previous literature, governance and tourism are not significantly related to destination countries for SECTT. The results for children's living conditions are unexpected: while bivariate analyses show that destination countries have poorer children's living conditions, a positive relation emerges in multivariate models when controlled for economic development. More specifically, we find that within the group of countries with poor economic conditions, SECTT is more likely to occur in countries with better protection of children's rights to life and education. We explore potential explanations for this finding. Show less
With access to and usage of it increasing dramatically over the past 20 years, the Internet has become an emerging realm for human interaction. With children constituting one-third of Internet... Show moreWith access to and usage of it increasing dramatically over the past 20 years, the Internet has become an emerging realm for human interaction. With children constituting one-third of Internet users worldwide, this realm offers endless opportunities to learn, connect, and interact. At the same time, the Internet facilitates child sexual abuse on a large scale – through the production, dissemination, and accessing of child sexual abuse material.This study aims to critically analyse emerging aspects of the international and national regulation, investigation and prosecution of online child sexual abuse material from a child-rights and rule-of-law-based approach. It investigates emerging aspects of substantive and procedural law which have been little explored in the past, zooming in on complex constitutional aspects by applying a comparative legal analysis approach with a strong focus on the Global South as well as interdisciplinary legal research.In order to solve these complex legal issues, the answer lies in the identification and subsequent navigation of a variety of dichotomies that govern the discourse on online child sexual abuse material. The international and national regulation, investigation and prosecution of emerging aspects of online child sexual abuse material hence require constant identification, reflection and calibration of competing discourses, with a view to developing a cyber-specific yet victim-sensitive response that upholds the rule of law and takes a child-centred approach. Show less
