Grooming, Child Abuse, & Child Sexual Exploitation
Five Forms of Coerced “Self-Produced” Child Sexual Exploitation Material: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis.
Open Access: Yes
Abstract
This review explored how the phenomenon of coerced “self-produced” child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) has been constructed in the literature using Critical Interpretative Synthesis. Selected keywords were systematically searched on relevant databases. Types of papers included were: peer-reviewed research articles; conceptual papers; commentary papers; theses; book chapters; systematic reviews; and government reports. Papers published in English between January 2005 and November 2022 were included. The initial search revealed 1,021 papers, after two reviewers applied the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 38 papers were selected for the final sample. Findings indicated five forms of coerced “self-produced” CSEM: Solicitation; Peer Sexting; Viral Challenge; Sextortion; and Financial Coercion. The forms are described and critically analyzed through an “Accountability Lens.” This Lens was developed to be victim-centered including identifying the coercive actions of the person responsible for the exploitation. The review found an absence of a consistent victim-centered approach to how the phenomena of coerced “self-produced” CSEM is understood that would ensure children are not held responsible for being exploited.
Relevance
“This review has discovered certain coercion strategies influence how children can become excluded from victimhood, and how this has been reconstructed over time. The implications of these findings are explored by identifying ways these five forms of coerced “self-produced” CSEM can inform practice intervention, influence legal frameworks and guide policy development to combat coerced “self-produce” CSEM.”
The five ways children are coerced to “self-produce” CSEM are: Solicitation; Peer Sexting; Viral Challenge; Sextortion; and Financial Coercion
“Regardless of the coercion strategy or perceived agency of the victim, it is the authors’ view that all forms of coerced “self-produced” CSEM constitute child sexual exploitation and cause children significant harm.”
“Applying the Accountability Lens, it was revealed that when new forms of coercion emerge, children are at risk of being constructed as responsible for exploitation. We assert that children are never responsible for their own exploitation.”
Citation
Bloxsom, G., McKibbin, G., Humphreys, C., Davidson, J., & Halfpenny, N. (2024). Five forms of coerced “self-produced” child sexual exploitation material: A critical interpretive synthesis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(5), 4230–4244. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241271376
