ComputerForensicsDigest.com

The United Nations Human Rights Council, a inter-governmental body composed of 47 member states, is currently holding its 12th regular session in Geneva. Among the issues being considered by the HRC is a report by Najat M’jid Maalla, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, on the results of 2008 investigative visit to Estonia.

In the course of presenting her report to the HRC, Maala said that according to research performed by the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation, an estimated 4 million Web sites contain images of child pornography, and the number is steadily increasing. According to the Associated Press, Maala also reported that more sites are depicting "serious exploitation," including images of "brutal rape, bondage, oral sex and other forms of debasement."

She estimated that as many as 750,000 people worldwide are visiting child pornography Web sites at any given moment. Altogether, Maala estimated, child pornography generates between $3 and $20 billion annually in revenues.

Thanks to aggressive federal and state efforts, child pornography had been substantially eliminated (at least in the United States) by the end of the 1980s. But the personal computer, the Internet, and digital camera technology have led to a flood of new and recycled images. Fortunately, more and more governments and organizations are devoting resources to fighting this terrible problem. Whether or not they are able to make substantial progress remains to be seen.