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Taba Corrine Taba Gehanna
Taba Corrine Taba Gehanna
a Possible Victim
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction
Hypothesis…………………………………………………………….……….6
II. Methodology
Instruments ………………………….……………...………………...…........12-13
Data Analysis………………………………………………………………... 14
References………………………………….………………………………...15-16
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INTRODUCTION
Sexual violence against children has been a talk in our society since then. Due to people’s
ignorance of the severity of sexual assault on children, others failed to pay attention to this social
issue, which is made it more tragic by the fact that the victims are children. News that are related up
to this sort of concerns are regularly covered by dating rumors, corruptions, scandal, and other
current issues which is not good since pedophilia in our present situation should not be ignored.
According to Brown, G. MD. (2021), pedophilia is a recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies,
sexual urges or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child, it is also a clinical term
but legally a term for child molesters. They target young boys, young girls, or both but only attracted
to children. In light of this, pedophilia is a significant issue that has to be acknowledged in order to
Additionally, pedophilia has been a misunderstood issue and has grown into one of the
world's most serious crimes. Some people think that pedophilia may be brought on by childhood
sexual abuse. Although this may contribute to the development of the illness, various environmental
and genetic factors may also be at play. As stated by Telloian, C. (2022), Genetic and epigenetic
experiences all contribute to the development of pedophilia. It has been indicated that people who
have previously suffered sexual abuse may be less likely to have sexual encounters that are mutually
As of now, pedophiles had been prowling through various social media platforms and
looking for their possible victim thanks to the process of ongoing technological growth and
advancement. The method that pedophiles use in social media sites is by fabricating their identities,
such as by altering their age on a specific account (13 years old or younger), and by adding more and
more children so that they may communicate with them. Part of protecting children from pedophiles
means pausing before we post. "It’s just safer to not put your entire life on social media” (Correa, M.
2019). With this, social media is truly a scary place and will never be suitable for children.
The researchers found that many people are already making jokes on social media sites,
particularly Facebook, about things they are unaware are pedophilia-related or similar to what
pedophiles do. In light of this, the authors of this study made the decision to further explore the
details of pedophilia's operation on social media and the methods that pedophiles employ to locate
their victims.
Images of child sex abuse have reached crisis proportions on the internet, spreading at
unprecedented rates in part due to the failure of technology platforms and law enforcement
organizations to keep up with the problem. But the images and online communities can help erode
inhibitions further, drawing pedophiles into more frequent or more aggressive acts, Dr. Bourke said.
“What you see, in their search histories,” he said, “is that they learn how to evade law enforcement,
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they become more confident, and they begin to use cognitive distortions to overcome their moral
inhibitions” (Carey, B. 2019). This simply indicates that social media has become uncontrollable to
the point where anyone can continue to commit crimes without anyone noticing, despite the fact that
those crimes required an immediate solution for the protection of others, particularly children who
may be victims of pedophilia. Due to the fact that it is widely used, and it is one of the most useful
tools available. In reality at all, with the exception of babies and war-torn countries, the vast majority
Furthermore, because many social media platforms are frequently used by a large number of
people, it may indicate that it can produce various types of danger or be a cause of danger, such as
pedophilia. Which primarily affects children who utilize various platforms as a new method of
having fun, but little do their parents realize is that the majority of children explore and can get into
Research Questions
This goal of this study is to assess how pedophiles can find their victims through social
media. This aims to better understand how a pedophiles’ mind works in finding its new victims. This
study will attempt to answer the question: How did social media became a way for pedophiles to
2. How children aged 13 and below can be a victim of pedophilia through social
media?
3. How does childhood trauma affect the mind of sexual abusers or pedophiles?
Hypothesis
The hypothesis states the significance of social media for pedophiles to find their possible victims:
Diagnosis of Pedophilia
harm to others, and it is considered a disorder. The age of the people involved determines whether
sexual attraction or participation between two people is called pedophilic disorder. In some
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countries the person involved in a pedophilic disorder can be 16 or older and at least 5 years older
than the child. Many pedophiles have or develop a substance use disorder or
dependence and depression. They often come from dysfunctional families, and marital conflict is
common. It was also stated that many were sexually abused as children. Although they are
frequently confused with child sexual abuse and child sexual assault, this is not always the case.
Since pedophilia is defined as a sexual attraction for someone, this does not imply that they always
sexually abuse children. In fact, according to Stelzmann, D., Jahnke, S. et al. (2020) an unknown,
but most likely substantial number of people with a sexual preference for children never commit
sexual offenses, and an estimated 40–60 percent of sexual offenses against children are not
committed by people with pedophilic interests. It is considered a sin, but pedophilia is never a crime
Today, many social media platforms serve as the primary source of information and can alter
our perceptions of the world. One out of every three or four children from six to sixteen will have
experienced sexual abuse. Many have been molested by their parents, relatives, moms' live-in
partners, neighbors, friends, and sex tourists. Many parents sexually abuse their children online in
live sex shows over the internet, which internet service providers (ISPs) accept and enable, all for
filthy money to enable the sexual enjoyment of foreign pedophiles (UCA News, 2022). Images of
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abused children are also sold online to pedophiles by the child's parents or relatives for sexual
satisfaction. There are even live child abuse sex shows available. Most of the time, it is due to a lack
of financial resources that parents are willing to sell their own child to strangers in order to make
money.
Lack of Actions
Online child abuse, selling recordings of children online to pedophiles, and other forms of
online exploitation against children will be less likely if telecommunications providers prohibit and
stop allowing child abuse images to be posted on various social media platforms. According to the
Charity Liberate Children, it is estimated that 10 million children are trafficked for sexual
exploitation around the world today and they have an average age of 12 to 14 years old. The abuse of
the internet enables and allows this. The executives and employees of PLDT, Globe and Dito allow
the passage of child sexual materials apparently without a qualm of conscience (UCA News, 2022).
They refuse to install filtering software despite the fact that the 2009 anti-child pornography law,
officially known as Republic Act (RA) 9775, requires them to do so. “I discovered the cover-up by
authorities of a syndicate selling children as young as nine years old to US sailors in 1982 and
exposed it in the media, only to be denounced and threatened for doing so” is also stated as an
example of media companies being silenced to speak the truth (UCA News, 2022).
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Things have changed considerably since many of today's new parents likely first became
acquainted with social media. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of Americans and 97% of
youths use social media now, and the most popular social media platforms can be the most dangerous
to children. Age-inappropriate content, sexual exploitation, scams, and cyberbullying are all potential
hazards that children may face. Pedophilia is one of the dangers that children may face if they are
exposed to social media. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, reports
of online child predator events increased by more than 97% in 2020. Furthermore, according to the
FBI, each perpetrator may sexually extort dozens, if not hundreds, of young victims.
It can begin with a simple friend request or message. Predators use assurances and
ostensibly shared interests to manipulate children. They later take advantage of their inherent
curiosity and venture into sexual terrain. Through this "grooming," they eventually earn trust and
Every few months, another breaking story about a social media influencer or celebrity
caught preying on minors emerges. However, the problem of pedophilia on social media is not
limited to attractive young influencers. This problem with pedophiles on social media is not
restricted to a single platform but affects many of the most popular social media networks. In March
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of last year, HuffPost published an article about how easy it is for pedophiles to uncover and
combine seemingly innocent recordings of young children for their own sadistic delight. Algorithms
are used by YouTube and other social media platforms to display related videos or postings.
TikTok and Instagram, for example, utilize algorithms to display users’ comparable material
based on their interactions and likes. This can result in pedophiles recommending harmless videos to
the wrong individual, thus developing a pedophilic niche. The problem is not with the content itself
but with the algorithm's continual proposals for more stuff. However, pedophiles do not just consume
anything created by or containing minors; they can also easily contact them. It isn't always as public
as Haynes duetting tiktoks or a YouTube commenter. When it comes to preventing pedophiles from
directly reaching out to naive children, who don't often realize who they're talking to, social media
Instead of developing their own procedures, social media businesses frequently rely on
individuals reporting harmful information. Companies with a huge user base have the ability to
advance machine learning and artificial intelligence. The algorithm, however, cannot be modified to
avoid pedophile abuse. Social media corporations should work with petitioners to propose legislation
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METHODOLOGY
I. Type of Research
A qualitative research approach will be investigated in this study. The survey method was
employed by the researchers in this strategy to determine whether the null hypothesis would be
rejected or accepted. This will reveal how some people perceive how pedophiles find their way
The participants of this research study are students of different grade levels from grades 7–
10. Hence, the researchers will use the non-probability method. Non-probability sampling is a
approach in which the researcher chooses participants based on his or her subjective judgment rather
than random selection. Purposive sampling will be used by the researchers as the sort of non-
approach in which researchers use their experience to select certain volunteers who will aid the
study's objectives. These participants have distinct characteristics that the researchers must consider
when analyzing their study topic. In other words, the participants in this study will be picked on
purpose by the researchers. The researchers will select their participants on purpose to get to know
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the students who are addicted to various social media platforms, mainly Facebook, and have
witnessed some pedophilic occurrences that have occurred through that site.
The researchers will select five (5) individuals at random from each grade level; levels 7-10,
to interview and collect data using questionnaires prepared by the researchers. Furthermore, the
researchers plan on reaching out to other teachers in order to learn their perspectives on the topic, so
that the researchers can collect more data for the study. This will enable the researchers to conduct
the study instrument correctly and receive the most precise data.
IV. Instruments
In choosing the research instrument, the researchers observed the students who are addicted
to any social media platforms. Most of the students are addicted to Facebook and Facebook is one of
the social media platforms where most pedophilic incidents happen. In addition, the students have
probably observed different pedophilic incidents that have happened on that social media platform.
With that, the researchers decided to use the questionnaire as the research instrument to gather
information and to know how students think about these incidents. A questionnaire is a sort of
research tool made up of a series of questions meant to extract important information from
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information about the respondents' attitudes, experiences, or opinions. The online questionnaire is the
specific questionnaire that the researchers will employ. An online questionnaire is a collection of
questions meant to collect survey data from a specified audience or group of people. Online
questionnaires allow participants to complete surveys at a time that is convenient for them and
provide them with a pressure-free environment in which to submit answers to questions that they
1. How do you make use of social media? To obtain trustworthy information? To communicate with
2. Do you think social media is suitable for children whose age range from 6-10 years old?
3. How comfortable are you in sharing private information through social medias? rate from 1-10.
5. How comfortable are you with publishing photographs online knowing that other people will save
them on their phones? Rank from 1 to 10. 1 indicates that you are very uncomfortable, and 10
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Online questionnaires will be used as the research tool for this study, and they will contain
particular questions about students' personal experiences with socializing and interacting on social
media. Since the researchers' question is somewhat specific and cannot be answered with a simple
yes or no, it will be much simpler to complete the online version of the questionnaire than to print it
out and distribute it to the individual study participants. Since the questions can simply be submitted
online and the responses are quickly obtained, it will be much more convenient for the researchers.
The researchers can quickly acquire information for their study on the growing number of pedophiles
In this study, the researchers will use Thematic Analysis which is a method used in
analyzing a Qualitative type of Research. A thematic analysis is a way of studying qualitative data
that entails reading over a set of data and looking for patterns in the meaning of the data in order to
find themes. It is frequently used to describe a group of texts, such as an interview or transcripts. In
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REFERENCES
Introduction
https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/mental-health-disorders/paraphilias-and-paraphilic-disorders/
pedophilia
Carey, B. (2019). Preying on Children: The Emerging Psychology of Pedophiles. Retrieved June 7,
Correa, M. (2019). Pedophiles want photos shared on social media. Here's what to know before you
https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/pedophiles-are-looking-for-photos-of-your-kids-on-social-
media/285-c69166b1-7387-48ac-ae6d-cb53d907562a
Diagnosis of Pedophilia
https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/mental-health-disorders/paraphilias-and-paraphilic-disorders/
pedophilia
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Stelzmann, D., Jahnke, S. et al. (2020). Media Coverage of Pedophilia: Benefits and Risks from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7460489/.
UCA News (2022). The Philippines' secret pandemic of child sexual abuse. Retrieved June 8, 2023,
from https://www.ucanews.com/news/the-philippines-secret-pandemic-of-child-sexual-abuse/96695.
Back, H. (2021). 8 Common Threats to Kids on Social Media. Retrieved June 12, 2023, from
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/common-threats-to-kids-on-social-media/.
media-admit-it-has-a-pedophilia-problem/.
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