«No Grey Areas on the Internet, a powerful lobby group representing child protection organisations, demands the condemnation of child abuse and sexual exploitation on the internet.
Depictions of child sexual exploitation («any representation, by any means whatsoever, of a child engaged in sexually explicit activities, real or simulated, or any representation of the sexual organs of a child for primarily sexual purposes» – known as child pornography) are prohibited by law in many countries around the world. However, child sexual exploitation is not only manifested through images of abuse.
In our modern societies, children can be sexualised and treated as sexual objects in many different ways, for example on the internet through images showing children in erotic or suggestive poses.
These images are part of what is known as «grey areas»; they do not necessarily cross the legal boundaries that would classify them as images of child sexual abuse; however, these representations may constitute exploitation.
They also undermine children's dignity and right to privacy and damage their sense of security. These images are widely distributed across the Internet and are much easier to find than images of child sexual abuse.
Organisations dedicated to the welfare and protection of children around the world are calling for universal condemnation and action against images of abuse and exploitation in the grey areas of the internet.
Following a meeting in Berlin at the end of October and wider dissemination of the initiative at the Internet Governance Forum in Brazil in November, more than 30 organisations from numerous countries around the world, including the e-Enfance association in France, finally signed a joint statement, which can be found here: http://www.i-kiz.de/NGA2015.
