sexual offences Flashcards
paraphillia
-Sexual arousal to ‘atypical’ objects, situations, fantasies. behav…etc
-Not to be confused w/ other forms of sexual deviance (kink, fetishes, BDSM, etc)
-From a legal perspective, the distinction between legal sexual deviance and illegal paraphilia
-The ability to act out such desires in a consensual way
E.g. pedophilia would not be considered a sexual kink or legal form of paraphilia
–>As there is no way to engage in it in a legally consensual way
E.x. flashing someone → illegal, showing kinks in public in a consensual way is legal,
ex of sexual offenses
-Sexual assault
-Rape
-Child exploitation
-Sexual harassment
-Non-consensual acts of sexual violence/harassment
-Revenge porn
-Sextortion
-Voyeurism, exhibitionism, indecent exposure, public masturbation..etc
-Sexting
-Bestiality
-Incest
+ many others
Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
-sexual/pornographic material depicting those who are underage
-Not new but new tech have vastly increased the availability, accessibility, and demand
-May be created (often unknowingly) by other minors
-‘Stimulated’ CSM made via photoshops, deep fakes, computer generated imagery, hentai, …etc
-Illegal for the most part (some grey areas)
cso’s, + cp’s and society
-Serious sexual offences often seen as one of the most severe types of crime in our society (other than violent crime)
-Esp when committed against children
-Sexual offenders and child predators often vilified and stigmatized further than most criminals
-Including within prison populations
-The shared cultural disdain of sexual offenders may serve an important unifying function in society
media and sexual offences
-Sexual offences often receive wide and frequent media coverage
-Esp true when the offender is noteworthy
-Media coverage of sexual offense generally disproportionate to the actual risk
-Sexual offences against both adults and children have been steadily decreasing since 1980’s
-However they have recently started to rise once again
consider:
-Dark figure of crime
-The ‘covid’ bump
-Rates of ‘online’ sexual offenses drastically on the rise (sextortion, grooming, revenge porn, sexualized photoshopping, child exploitation material)
Online sexual grooming
-When a sexual predator manipulates a target (typically a minor) to share sexually explicit material
-Typically occurs through social media platforms, gaming communities, live streams, chatrooms, YT, etc…
-Often follows typical process
-Victim selection (often based on ease of access, privacy settings, willingness to share, etc…)
-Gaining access (attempt to contact victim)
trust/relationship building
-Desensitization (introduce/discuss sexual content
request/ management (soliciting material/favors and post-abuse management)
-Estimated that 20% of children will be sexually solicited by an adult online or at some point
Sextortion
-Obtaining sexually explicit material from smo and using it as a means of blackmail/extortion
-Explicit material may be obtained ‘legitimately’ or through use of fraud/deception
-‘Webcam blackmail’ the most common variation
-But also popular on snapchat and other platforms
Ex. amanda todd
-Reported cases steadily increasing
500% increase over last 7 years
90%+ of recent victims are men (teenage boys esp vulnerable) → organized crime
Revenge porn
-Posting or sharing sexually explicit material of someone without their consent
-Typically w/ intent of doing harm
-Material may be obtained w/ or w/o consent
-‘Unauthorized distribution of nude pics and videos’ criminalized in canada in 2014
-Reported cases steadily rising
500% increase between 2015-2018
Disproportionately impacts women
About 20% of cases involve minors
sex offenders + registry
-Sexual offenders often receive unique forms of ongoing surveillance once released from prison
-Many countries (including Canada) maintain a sex offender registry
-Designed to monitor and track the personal details of released offenders
-May be subject to further restrictions
-Where they can/cannot live, access to public areas, internet usage…etc
-Are often subject to further social stigmatization, harassment, vigilantism…etc
treatment
-May combine a variety of psychological, therapeutic, or pharmacological appts
CBT, relapse prevention techniques, the Good Lives Model, other therapeutic and emotional treatments.
-Encouraging safer and less harmful ways to engage in certain sexual appetites
-Certain medications that target neurotransmitters in the brain to decrease certain problematic urges
-In some countries, chemical castration is used as a punishment/treatment in more severe cases
