Vulnerability to Child Pornography and Loopholes in Legislative Frameworks in South Asia

In recent years easy access to internet has led to a rampant increase in child pornography. Although this technology offers plenty of opportunities for children and adults to learn about the universe, it also contributes tremendously to the sexual exploitation of children, specifically through the distribution of sexually exploitive images of children. Children pornography has led to various other crimes such as sex tourism, sexual abuse of the children etc. Across South Asia including Bangladesh, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation adversely affect the lives of myriads of children. While no child is exempted from the risk of sexual abuse and exploitation, some groups of children are more vulnerable than others. These include children from ethnic minorities and marginalized populations, children living and working on the streets, children separated from their families, children living in slums and the children of sex workers. Moreover, there is an overall lack of appropriate legislation in Bangladesh, as in the rest of the South Asian countries, with regard to child pornography. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive review covering the nature of child pornography, factors contributing to the vulnerability to child pornography in the region as well as the strengths and weaknesses in the legislations.