The Danish hotline also receive images of children who are not illegal but are problematic because they constitute a sexual exploitation of the child. These may include everyday pictures of children being placed in an adult pornographic context, or pictures and films receiving sexual commentary. These images are not protected by law but are a violation of children's right not to be sexually exploited. In this article, we explain the Copine scale, which describes images of children, from the innocent to the most abusive and illegal.
But we also look at who the consumers of these images are. ‘The pedophiles’ are often used as a common term for all sexual offenders, but many adults with a pedophile sexuality hate their sexuality and do not want to offend children. Both in the individual adult with a pedophile sexuality and in the forums where they meet, the boundaries of what is abusive and harmful to children are discussed and negotiated. At Save the Children Denmark, we have for one year been associated with a PhD. student who analyze the challenges and dilemmas associated with being assigned and having to live with a sexuality from which they are distanced. If we are to prevent the sexual exploitation of children, we must also understand the underlying mechanisms and hopefully be able to help people with pedophile sexuality to a virtuous life without child abuse.