SALON

Wednesday, Dec 1, 2010 9:29 PM UTC

Could child porn prevent abuse?

A researcher suggests that we might reduce sex abuse with digitally simulated kiddie smut

By

Topics: Sexual abuse, Children, Pornography, Broadsheet, Love and Sex,

Could child porn prevent abuse?

A controversial study published today in the Archives of Sexual Behavior suggests that the availability of child pornography can prevent child sex abuse. Fighting child abuse with child abuse? It sounds like an oxymoron, but University of Hawaii professor Milton Diamond reviewed a study finding that the rate of child sex abuse fell dramatically in the Czech Republic when pornography was legalized in 1990. Researchers observed a similar phenomenon with the decriminalization of child porn in Denmark and Japan. Diamond is so convinced by the evidence that he recommends that it could be beneficial to society to make digitally manipulated kiddie smut more widely available. “They can do it artificially and if that reduces child sex crimes, I think that is a plus,” he said.

The study certainly raises interesting philosophical questions about promoting objectionable material to prevent real-world crimes — but it’s also majorly flawed. A couple of big-time caveats: Diamond’s research finds a correlation between child pornography and sex abuse, which is not the same as causation; and in the Czech case, pornography in general (including kiddie porn) was legalized, not just kiddie porn. It’s also worth noting that the observed drop is in reported child sex abuse. Beyond even those concerns, there is the fact that his research doesn’t explicitly study the impact of faux child porn. I find it hard to believe that those who seek out child pornography — and who are at risk for abusing actual children — will be satisfied by “pretend” pictures. Imitation child porn that convincingly passes for the real thing might do the trick, but then how would we tell the difference between real abuse and simulated abuse?

The courts have already wrestled with that complicated legal issue, and the solution has been to treat even digitally manipulated images of minors as the real thing. As Jeffrey Douglas, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney specializing in child porn cases, told me in the wake of the Perez Hilton-Miley Cyrus upskirt scandal, “if you were to take the face of an 8-year-old and put that picture on the nude body of even an identifiable, fully developed adult porn star, it is child-porn punishable identical to if you took a photo of the actual child.” Now, if we were able to practically legalize simulated kiddie smut without promoting actual child pornography as a consequence, and if fake child porn really did directly lead to a drastic drop in actual child abuse, it would certainly be a preventive measure worth considering. But that’s a lot of what-if’s.

Tracy Clark-Flory

Tracy Clark-Flory is a staff writer at Salon. Follow @tracyclarkflory on Twitter and Facebook. More Tracy Clark-Flory.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 49 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations