X
theAsianparent Logo
theAsianparent Logo
Product GuideSign in
  • Awards
    • Parents' Choice Awards 2023
  • Pregnancy
    • Due date calculator
    • I'm pregnant
    • Trying To Conceive
    • Labour
    • After birth
    • Baby loss
  • Parenting
    • Parent's Guide
    • Relationship & Sex
  • Child
    • Newborn
    • Baby
    • Toddler
    • Pre-Schooler
    • Kid
    • Pre-Teen & Teen
  • Feeding & Nutrition
    • Diseases-Injuries
    • Breastfeeding & Formula
    • Meal Planner
    • Health
    • Allergies & Conditions
    • Vaccinations
  • Education
    • Pre-School
    • Primary School
    • Secondary School
    • Primary School Directory
  • Lifestyle
    • Money
    • Travel & Leisure
    • Fashion
    • Home
    • Fitness
    • Contests & promotions
  • News
    • International
    • Health
    • Celebrity
    • Singapore
  • TAP Recommends
  • Shopping
  • Press Releases
  • Project Sidekicks
  • Community
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Become A Contributor
  • VIP

New Research Shows Parents Are Major Producers Of Child Sexual Abuse Material

1 Mar, 2021

Child sexual abuse material — images and videos of kids being sexually abused — is a growing international problem. Almost 70 million reports of this material were made to US authorities in 2019. That figure rose still further in 2020, as the COVID pandemic drove children and adults to spend more time online.

Police and online safety agencies have been sounding the alarm that online sex offenders are seeking to capitalise on the increased online presence of children, tricking and blackmailing kids into creating abuse images and videos. Parents are being called on to be especially vigilant.

However, the sad fact is that online exploitation begins at home for many kids, and in those cases their parent is the last person who can be trusted to keep them safe. One study of 150 adult survivors, who indicated they had appeared in sexual abuse material as children, found 42percent identified their biological or adoptive/stepfather as the primary offender. More than two-thirds of such images appear to have been made at home.

Parental abusers are especially difficult to detect. They have constant access to their victims and almost total control over them. Children abused by a parent are the least likely group to tell anyone, and the shame and fear caused by victimisation makes it extremely difficult to speak out.

However, there is long-standing concern that parental perpetrators of child sexual abuse material have been overlooked as governments have instead focused on online threats outside the family.

Our Study: A Database Of 82 Cases

child sexual abuse material

Image courtesy: Shutterstock from The Conversation

The aim of our world-first study was to identify the circumstances in which parental figures (including biological, step and adoptive parents) produce sexual abuse material of their children in Australia.

We also provided recommendations on how to increase the chances of law enforcement and agencies catching abusers.

Our research team developed a database of 82 cases in which Australian parents or parental figures were charged with sexual abuse material offences against their children, as reported in media or legal databases from 2009 to 2019.

Our team included academics in criminology, child welfare and law as well as a detective sergeant and a forensic paediatrician who specialise in such cases and provided front-line expertise.

What Did We Find?

child sexual abuse material

Image courtesy: Pixabay

Parental production of child sexual abuse material is a gendered form of abuse.

  • Men were offenders in 90% of cases, and girls were victims in 84% of cases.
  • Boys were victimised in one-fifth of cases, with multiple children abused in some cases.
  • The victim’s biological father (58%) or stepfather (41%) were most likely to be the offender. However, the victim’s biological mother was involved in 28% of cases, most often as a co-offender.

About eight of the 82 cases, the mother was the sole perpetrator.

  • In these cases, the woman appeared to be producing this material of her children at the request of male acquaintances.
  • About 22% of cases, there were multiple perpetrators involved in the face-to-face abuse, such as both parental figures, other relatives or acquaintances.

The victims were young, with more than 60% under the age of nine.

  • In the 58 cases for which we had information about how the abuse was detected, only 20% of victims told anyone about the abuse. Self-blame, guilt, trauma and confusion about their feelings towards the abuser(s) were common among victims and were barriers to speaking out.

Three typical profiles of offending by parental figures emerged from our study:

  1. the biological paternal offender who forms adult relationships and has children of his own to exploit

  2. the step- or de facto parental offender who forms a relationship with a woman and exploits her children or seeks to obtain children by some other means (such as surrogacy)

  3. the biological mother who produces sexual abuse material of her children at the behest of her partner or men with whom she is acquainted.

Read more: How Can We Protect Our Children From Sexual Grooming?

What does this mean?

child sexual abuse material

Image courtesy: Pixabay

Our study highlights that parental offenders are often highly premeditated in their abuse and exploitation of their children, which supports survivors’ descriptions of parental offenders. The offenders in our study were capable of maintaining adult romantic relationships and an otherwise “normal” facade.

The study has several implications for policy and practice.

First, sexual abuse prevention and online safety education programs can’t assume parents are protective. These programs should sensitively address the problem of abuse, exploitation and image-making by family members.

Second, some perpetrators groom and manipulate potential partners to gain access to children. Community education could help people identify the warning signs when an offender is trying to groom someone in a romantic relationship.

Read more: Telltale Signs That An Adult Is Indulging In Child Sexual Abuse

Third, people with concerns their partner might be accessing child sexual abuse material need to be able to access non-stigmatising support and advice. Services such as PartnerSPEAK are crucial not only to support people partnered with offenders, but to promote early intervention in the offending and the protection of children.

Fourth, child protection and criminal justice interventions in sexual abuse often depend upon the child’s disclosure. However, this group of severely abused children were very unlikely to disclose. This finding underscores the need to alert protective adults to non-verbal signs of abuse.

The sexual exploitation of a child by a parent is a profound violation of trust. As Australia and other jurisdictions scale up efforts to prevent child sexual abuse before it occurs, we can’t overlook the ways that some perpetrators use their homes and families to exploit their children and create sexual abuse material.

Partner Stories
Celebrity Dad Mark Lee Shares the 3 P's of Raising School Going Children - Parenting Tips, PSLE Preparation & Protecting Your Child’s Eyesight!
Celebrity Dad Mark Lee Shares the 3 P's of Raising School Going Children - Parenting Tips, PSLE Preparation & Protecting Your Child’s Eyesight!
NTUC First Campus (NFC) Expands Child Support Model to Include Support for Mental Well-being
NTUC First Campus (NFC) Expands Child Support Model to Include Support for Mental Well-being
Singapore's Dengue Cases Surpass The 35,000 Mark, Highest Since 2013
Singapore's Dengue Cases Surpass The 35,000 Mark, Highest Since 2013
Typhoon Haiyan relief effort
Typhoon Haiyan relief effort

As 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame said, as she accepted the award in the name of all survivors of child sexual abuse:

Just as the impacts of evil are borne by all of us, so too are solutions borne of all of us.

Written by: Michael Salter, Scientia Associate Professor of Criminology, UNSW

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ALSO READ:

Predators Are Sharing Child Sexual Abuse Images…In Plain Sight

New Research Shows Parents Are Major Producers Of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Got a parenting concern? Read articles or ask away and get instant answers on our app. Download theAsianparent Community on iOS or Android now!

img
Written by

The Conversation

  • Home
  • /
  • News
  • /
  • New Research Shows Parents Are Major Producers Of Child Sexual Abuse Material
Share:
  • Why you need to talk to your child about sexual abuse now!

    Why you need to talk to your child about sexual abuse now!

  • New stats show child sexual abuse in Asia is now at a critical level

    New stats show child sexual abuse in Asia is now at a critical level

  • Xiang Yun and Edmund Chen Were Forced to Reveal Marriage When They Saw Media Waiting for Them at Rom

    Xiang Yun and Edmund Chen Were Forced to Reveal Marriage When They Saw Media Waiting for Them at Rom

  • 'Family is Priceless': Malaysian Man in Singapore Rents 2 Buses So He and 60 Other Strangers Can Join Their Families for CNY

    'Family is Priceless': Malaysian Man in Singapore Rents 2 Buses So He and 60 Other Strangers Can Join Their Families for CNY

  • Why you need to talk to your child about sexual abuse now!

    Why you need to talk to your child about sexual abuse now!

  • New stats show child sexual abuse in Asia is now at a critical level

    New stats show child sexual abuse in Asia is now at a critical level

  • Xiang Yun and Edmund Chen Were Forced to Reveal Marriage When They Saw Media Waiting for Them at Rom

    Xiang Yun and Edmund Chen Were Forced to Reveal Marriage When They Saw Media Waiting for Them at Rom

  • 'Family is Priceless': Malaysian Man in Singapore Rents 2 Buses So He and 60 Other Strangers Can Join Their Families for CNY

    'Family is Priceless': Malaysian Man in Singapore Rents 2 Buses So He and 60 Other Strangers Can Join Their Families for CNY

Get advice on your pregnancy and growing baby. Sign up for our newsletter
  • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Education
    • Events
    • Allergies & Conditions
  • Family Occasions
    • Breastfeeding & Formula
    • Child Safety
    • Health
    • Diseases-Injuries
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Money
    • Feeding & Nutrition
    • Diet & Weightloss
  • Normal Delivery
    • Cesarean Delivery
    • Behaviour
    • Secondary School
    • Formula Feeding
  • Ages & Stages
    • Latching & Concerns
    • Festivals & Holidays
    • Education
    • Pre-teen & Teen
  • More
    • TAP Community
    • Advertise With Us
    • Contact Us
    • Become a Contributor


  • Singapore flag Singapore
  • Thailand flag Thailand
  • Indonesia flag Indonesia
  • Philippines flag Philippines
  • Malaysia flag Malaysia
  • Sri-Lanka flag Sri Lanka
  • India flag India
  • Vietnam flag Vietnam
  • Australia flag Australia
  • Japan flag Japan
  • Nigeria flag Nigeria
  • Kenya flag Kenya
© Copyright theAsianparent 2023. All rights reserved
About Us|Team|Privacy Policy|Terms of Use |Sitemap HTML
  • Tools
  • Articles
  • Feed
  • Poll

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn MoreOk, Got it

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn MoreOk, Got it

theAsianparent heart icon
We’d like to send you notifications for the latest news and lifestyle updates.