Who’s policing? A nodal governance perspective on the policing of image-based sexual abuse in Japan.

• In Event: Image-based sexual abuse: victimization, perpetration, prevention, and policing.

Abstract

In the last decade image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), or the non-consensual creation or (threatened) distribution of nude or sexual images, has become a problem on a truly global scale, leading many countries to introduce criminal statutes and corresponding sanctions. Despite the existence of such legal frameworks, it is often unclear whether and, if so, how and by whom crimes of IBSA are being policed, as extant criminological research has predominantly focused on the predictors, the prevalence rates, and the consequences of this type of cybercrime. One notable exception is Japan, where actors as diverse as police forces, law firms, detective agencies, non-profit organizations, internet helplines, and government bodies are all actively, yet often independently from each other, responding to and managing cases of IBSA. Drawing on the plural policing literature, this presentation will discuss the theoretical risks and benefits associated with such diverse policing responses based on a preliminary examination of the (inter)actions of actors from the public, private, and voluntary sectors in Japan. In doing so, it contributes a non-Western perspective on cybercrime prevention and response strategies to the growing body of literature on the policing of cybercrime.

Authors

• Charlotte Bekkers, KU Leuven

• Jeroen Maesschalck, Leuven Institute of Criminology, KU Leuven

• Dimitri Vanoverbeke, University of Tokyo