
Risk Factors for Child Sexual Abuse Material Users Contacting Children Online
Author(s) -
Tegan Insoll,
Anna Ovaska,
Juha Nurmi,
Mikko Aaltonen,
Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of online trust and safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2770-3142
DOI - 10.54501/jots.v1i2.29
Subject(s) - feeling , sexual contact , sexual abuse , psychology , child sexual abuse , child abuse , medicine , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , family medicine , social psychology , medical emergency , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , gonorrhea
This study explores a sample of 1,546 anonymous individuals who voluntarily responded to our "Help us to help you" survey when searching for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the dark web. Nearly half (42%) of the respondents reported that they had sought direct contact with children through online platforms after viewing CSAM, and 58% reported feeling afraid that viewing CSAM might lead to sexual acts with a child or adult. This study analyses whether certain risk factors are linked to a higher likelihood of contacting children after viewing CSAM. It finds that certain factors are associated with a self-reported likelihood of having contacted children online after viewing CSAM, including more frequent use of CSAM, older age of first exposure to CSAM, viewing CSAM depicting toddlers and infants, having thoughts of self-expressing prior to viewing CSAM, and being in contact with other CSAM users.