Date of Award

Spring 2025

Project Type

Dissertation

Program or Major

Sociology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

First Advisor

David Finkelhor

Second Advisor

Heather Turner

Third Advisor

Karen Van Gundy

Abstract

Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) poses a significant threat, especially in the current technological age. A better understanding of victim characteristics is needed to direct investigation and prevention efforts properly. However, determining the age distribution of children in CSAM has been difficult due to numerous factors, including differing laws governing CSAM, the priority placed on investigating younger victims, and the difficulty of determining from images alone the age of young people. This meta-analysis sought to understand the proportion of image abuse victims who are under the age of 13 compared to those who are 13 years or older and whether this proportion differed by data source or year of CSAM collection. It found that the overall prevalence of victims under the age of 13 as a proportion of all CSAM victims was 63%. This proportion differed by data source, particularly when examining data gathered from general population surveys. The prevalence of victims under the age of 13 as a proportion of all CSAM victims was 34%, while law enforcement (62%), internet watch agencies (74%), and web crawlers (87%) reported proportions greater than 60%. This meta-analysis also noted a significant increase in adolescent victims since 2020, most likely due to both the increase in general population surveys, which allowed older victims an avenue to report their experiences without fear of negative reactions, and changing technology and social norms that have increased the production of youth-produced sexual images. The findings of this study suggest that there are more victims aged 13 or older than are represented in law enforcement and agency studies due to the priorities such organizations place on investigating images of pre-pubescent victims. While this bias may have good justifications, the estimates of age distribution in CSAM that include law enforcement and agency reports will misrepresent the true age distribution. Future research should investigate other methods for prioritizing CSAM cases, such as the severity of abuse depicted in the images or the recency of the report.

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