Nova Scotia is widely known for tourism with lighthouse and lobster, blueberry–but now the province is also known for the highest rate in child pornography charges in Canada.
It turns out, in 2014, Nova Scotia had the highest rate in child pornography charges in Canada. In the same year, the data also showed that Nova Scotia was in the top three, for highest rates of charges against both youths and adults, in relation to child pornography in Canada.
Fig.1 Provincial ranking: adults charged with child pornography in 2014
According to the latest data released by Statistics Canada, Nova Scotia had the highest rate of adults charged with child pornography, in 2014. For youth charged in the same category, the province had the second-highest rate (following Québec). Also in 2014, the rate of youth charged for child pornography had nearly tripled from the previous year, now sitting at its highest in the past five years.
Fig.2 Provincial ranking: youth charged with child pornography in 2014
Youths charged with child pornography, in Nova Scotia, almost triples the amount of adults charged for the same offence. It’s also more than triple, in comparison to any other province in Canada, except Québec.
A possible aspect to see recent change in child pornography is that many of those have gone online.
In 2014, 10 Nova Scotians were charged with child pornography, as a result of Operation Snapshot III – the nationwide investigation conducted by RCMP that targets child pornography incidents online. According to RCMP reports released in 2014, at least 17 of 38 cases regarding child pornography have involved online activity.
When it comes to incidents involving youth, child pornography is in direct relation to cyber bullying. In 2013, 17-year-old Nova Scotian Rehtaeh Persons committed suicide, after she was sexually assaulted at a party and the photograph, which captured her assault, went online. As a result, one teenager was charged with two counts of distributing child pornography.
Following Persons’ death, several other cases took place, both in Canada and the U.S.; Nova Scotia became the first province which applied the Cyber Safety Act, in 2013.
Roger Merrick, director of Cyberscan, the provincial organization which launched the cyberbully/cyberporn investigation following the act, says though there are no apparent differences between adult cases and youth cases in cyberporn targeting children, the number of Nova Scotians who come to Cyberscan asking for help had dramatically increased over the past couple of years.
“I think it’s because we got the word out when the Cyber Safety Act came out to play,” he said. “People are now aware that we have the ability to reach out for help, and to have these things stopped.”
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the act in 2015, Cyberscan is now focusing on education and raising awareness about the issue. However, Merrick says that Nova Scotians would still need the law’s protection. He says even a civil law, like the Cyber Safety Act, would play an important role by letting them set a formal agreement to get people to stop harassment.
“We have seen the very harmfully sex that cyberbullying causes”, said Merrick. “And, people should not be subjected to it.”