The article covers child sexual abuse in Canada, a form of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

in which an adult or older adolescent uses engages in sexual act(s) with a child. Previous statistics have shown that about a third of girls and one sixth of boys are victims of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

in Canada. In 2016, results from a national representative survey indicated that the sexual abuse of children has been declining in Canada since the early 1990s. In Canada, child sexual offences also include the access and use of child pornography, since the use of these materials indirectly harms a child. Child pornographic offences are considered child sexual abuse, since its production involves direct sexual abuse of a child. The criminal justice system has been transitioning the term of child pornography to "child sexual abuse materials" and/or "child sexual exploitation materials" as these terms essentially underline the fact that children are being sexually abused. By contrast, "child pornography" has an underlying tone that these materials are erotic and are intentionally used for sexual arousal purposes.

Prevention

In prompt response to this issue, several prevention initiatives have taken place:
Little Warriors
works at a national level to reduce the stigma of child sexual abuse, and have ongoing workshops to help caregivers spot signs of sexual abuse. * Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA) has launched several initiatives in preventing child sexual abuse, including the ''Third Option'', which allows victims to store evidence against offenders and choose whether to report after a year.
The Prevention Study
is an initiative that aims to prevent sexual offences against children by treating people who have not offended and feel they are at risk of offending (also see Prevention Project Dunkelfeld). *

Cybertip.ca Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P; french: Centre canadien de protection de l'enfance) is a Canadian registered charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of all children. More specifically, its goal is to reduce the victim ...

is a Canadian national tip-line to report online child sexual exploitation.
Canadian Centre for Child Protection (CCCP)
is a national charity that aims to reduce and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation. It has several ongoing research projects, such a
Project Arachnid
which is an automated webcrawler that actively reduces the availability of child sexual abuse materials on the Internet.

Penalties for child sexual abuse

The ''Criminal Code'' indicates that the following charges are considered hands-on sexual offences: Sexual interference on persons under age 16,

on persons under age 16, and invitation to sexual touching. Child pornography-related offences under the ''Criminal Code'' include: Making child pornography, Make available/distribute child pornography, Access child pornography, and Possession of child pornography. In addition, offenders might be placed on th
Section 161 order
which restricts interactions with minors (age 16 and below). Offenders might also be placed on the Sexual Offender Registry for either 5 years, 10 years, or a lifetime. Those who have been convicted of these offences might have the option of serving weekend sentences while getting treatment for their problematic sexual interests and/or behaviors. Currently, Canada does not have any public/community notification laws. Many studies have shown that there is no

empirical Empirical evidence for a proposition is evidence, i.e. what supports or counters this proposition, that is constituted by or accessible to sense experience or experimental procedure. Empirical evidence is of central importance to the sciences and ...

support that public notification laws are effective at preventing sexual re-offences. In fact, research has shown that public notification laws might present more problems than help. There have been emerging studies that show treatment efforts may be more effective at reducing sexual re-offences.

References

{{North America in topic, Child sexual abuse in Sex crimes in Canada

Prevention

Penalties for child sexual abuse

See also

References