Child Pornography: Does it Include Computer-Generated Images?

Good morning delegates!

As you may know from the coverage it received in the press, there is a Japanese video game called "RapeLay". The objective of this game is to earn points by assaulting schoolgirl characters and even forcing them to have abortions.

According to Wikipedia... (NB: WE WILL NOT CONDONE RESEARCH FROM WIKIPEDIA IN OUR COMMITTEE. However I'm going to take their word on this JUST THIS ONCE and you will understand after reading the following quote why I do not want to research any more about this video game...):

The player can choose from a variety of sexual positions, and controls the action by making movements with the mouse or by scrolling the mouse wheel. It features a realistic sexual simulator which allows the player to grope and undress the characters on a crowded train....

(The whole quote summarizing this game was not posted due to it's inappropriate nature. Read at your own discretion. HSMUN 2011 and the UNICEF Dais are in no way endorsing this video game.)

Yes, this game actually exists. In fact, it belongs to an entire genre of Japanese media, called "hentai" by the West, that features various sexualities that are generally viewed as perversions, including depictions of child-like figures involved in sex acts.  Also included in this genre, and produced by the same company are other sexually violent video games called "Battle Raper" and "Artificial Girl". According to this article:

A spokesman for the company said: "We believe there is no problem with the software, which has cleared the domestic ratings of an ethics watchdog body."

.....
Ethics watchdog body??

Somehow, this game has slipped through Japanese laws and can be sold in the country. Not surprisingly, it cannot be sold anywhere else in the world. While Japanese law bans the production and sale of sexually expicit images of children under 18, it does not prohibit animated or computer-generated images. Has the rapid industrilization and economic development of countries like Japan allowed children to slip through the cracks?

According to this article from 2008, Japan and Russia were the only G8 countries that do not ban possession of child pornography. In addition, magazines and DVDs featuring small children in bikinis are available for sale. According to human rights activists, pedophiles use these obscene photographs to convince their underage victims that sexual exploitation is normal.


The flip side - How about in a developing country ravaged by natural disasters?
This article briefly outlines the way in which children are exploited during times of vulnerability.
According to this article:

...about 250 million children under age 5 in developing countries do not have a birth certificate and about 150 million in the world are engaged in child labor. Children without birth certificates "risk being trafficked, not getting access to health care, eventually not getting inheritance rights," Bissell said. They face "a massive series of potential protection violations because you don't have identities."

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The current UN Millennium Development Goals on reducing poverty do not cover violations of children's rights, and no country in the world is immune to issues of child exploitation. Delegates, we hope you can come up with some solutions to these problems.