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1H – Images are minors

In this section, we will help you understand the impact that images of sexual exploitation of minors on the Internet can have on victims. This section is primarily aimed at people who want to stop their online sexual behaviour towards minors.

Objectives

This section will help you understand:

  • the false justifications offenders use to avoid responsibility for their actions
  • that these images are of real minors being abused
  • the effects of being photographed on the minor in the image.

Introduction: The reality of sexual images

It’s likely that you will have used self-justifications to persuade yourself that it is OK to allow yourself to view sexual images of minors. Self-justification describes how, when a person encounters a situation in which their behaviour is inconsistent with their beliefs, that person tends to justify the behaviour to allow themselves to continue what they are doing. At first you might be aware that you are using self-justifications to let yourself look at illegal images. But your awareness of these justifications might fade over time the more they are used.