Cybercrime and sexual exploitation of children in e-environment in the context of strengthening urban and rural security

Rıga Stradiņš University, Faculty of Law, Riga, Latvia

Abstract

Among various types of threats to urban and rural security, there has been an increase in cybercrime in recent years, an increase in criminal offenses in the e-environment. This also applies to the sexual exploitation of children in the e-environment. Sexual violence against children in cyberspace is linked to objectively determined factors, such as the development of Internet technologies and their wide availability. The active efforts of children to learn and use the new technologies, the attractiveness of the virtual environment in contrast to the real situation and the ambiguous and in many cases incomprehensible nature, as well as the saturation of pornographic material in the Internet, the weak control of their distribution, should be noted. Due to the increasing availability of the Internet, the expansion of e-services in cities and rural areas is relatively balanced. An Internet user may be at risk in both big cities and in a less populated rural area. Among Internet users the proportion of young people and children is relatively high, which objectively determines their increased victimization potential. Among threats to children related to the e-environment, multiple forms of child sexual abuse, including cyberbullying, sextings, sextorings, cyberstalkings, are increasing.