2024 Theses Master's

Eternal Lolita: Evolving Forms of Child Pornography Legislation in a Contemporary Digital Era

Southard, Annie

With expansion of the Internet and its evolving technology, child sexual abuse material has become a pressing human rights issue that remains unaddressed by the United States government. A lack of will to engage with the private sector and to recognize the economic market for child pornography within the United States has left children exposed to significant emotional and physical harm without the adequate legal protections on their human rights.

This paper will not only provide an understanding of the current legal systems at play within the United States on the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, but will also develop a more comprehensive definition of what constitutes child pornography, involving the recognition of the role of the Internet and social media in facilitating harm against children, that must be employed to best protect children and their human rights.

A supplemental study will also be done to best address the scope of such an issue on a global and the urgency that is required by the United States as one of the leading hosts of child sexual abuse material. The following analysis of the current child pornography crisis will supply the framework for best understanding and defining the child pornography crisis, by centering victims' voices and developing more comprehensive legislation on the part of the United States government.