Online Solicitation Of Children For Sexual Purposes (Cyber Grooming)

Year 2022, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 211 - 233, 20.05.2022

Emine Eylem Aksoy Retornaz

https://doi.org/10.26650/JPLC2022-1112665

Abstract

As the age of using technological devices and internet decreases, children become easy targets for cybercrimes. Their vulnerability and innocence on the one hand and the accessibility and anonymity of the internet on the other creates opportunities for the commitment of sexual offences against children in cyber space. One such offence is cyber grooming, which is very dangerous because of the gravity of its possible consequences on a child’s life, but also because of the significantly vague scope of application arising from the difficulties to detect the real intent of the groomer. Although international legislation has influenced some national legal systems to criminalize child grooming as a separate offence, Turkish law has not initiated such a reaction yet. However, there exists other courses of action to criminalize cyber grooming in order to prevent such threats to a child’s physical and moral well-being. This study aims to examine the offence of cyber grooming of children for sexual purposes in comparative law and its reflection in Turkish law.

Keywords

Cyber grooming, solicitation, sexual abuse, sexual harassment

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