We're pleased to announce keynote speaker Professor Ethel Quayle will be presenting at the AIC 2025 Conference , which will take place in Canberra on 11-12 March 2025.
Professor Quayle will be speaking on Technology-facilitated sexual crimes against children: offenders, victims and environment.
Abstract
While there is no evidence that online abuse and exploitation are more serious or pervasive offences than crimes occurring offline, recent research has suggested that a considerable proportion of children and young people have experienced technology-facilitated sexual abuse. It is the case that the affordances offered by online social media may present a significant risk factor for some children to experience harm from adults and peers motivated by a sexual interest in children. Three factors play an important role in this complex and dynamic scenario: potential perpetrators and victims, the social context in which criminal activities take place and the rapidly changing medium. Online sexual crimes against children are committed by people who are motivated to sexually offend, and their online activities are purposive, and goal directed. However, even if motivation and facilitation factors are present, sexual offences cannot take place without opportunities to act. There is a person-environment interaction, in that individuals who are strongly motivated to commit sexual offences are more likely to seek out or create opportunities to offend. This presentation examines the interaction between offender motivation, victim vulnerabilities and the affordances offered by technology.
