The numbers are staggering: 2,458 cases of sexual abuse on the Internet against three girls in just ten days. This is shown by “Gefangen im Netz”, a documentary by the Czech filmmakers Barbora Chalupová and Vít Klusák, which was shown in German cinemas in June and can be viewed online for a fee. Three adult but child-looking actresses were cast from a total of 23 applicants, and their fictitious profiles as twelve-year-olds were posted on social media, including Facebook, Skype, Snapchat and a Czech provider. Even in the casting session, nineteen young women reported experiences of sexual abuse on the Internet in their childhood. “In Germany, nine children are victims of sexual violence on the Internet every day. There are currently one or two affected children in each school class, ”the German website from“ Captive on the Net ”said.
Cybergrooming, i.e. the targeted search by perpetrators for victims on the Internet, is the subject of the film. For this purpose, three authentic children’s rooms were set up in a studio, which serve as a setting. In order to better adjust to the role as a twelve-year-old girl, each of the actresses brought objects from their childhood into “their room” – books, pictures, toys, a doll’s house. The team behind the scenes included psychologists and a sex researcher.
When the profile picture of one of the girls is activated, sixteen contact requests come within five minutes. “It was like they were waiting for us.” The chats get down to business very quickly. Most of the older men ask suggestive questions about the girls’ sexual experiences, followed by requests to “show more of themselves”. Masturbation and erections can be seen in an increasing sequence of images, cut to the ring tones of the social media, which condense into a gloomy film music. The images, as well as the faces of the men, are pixelated, but the audacity and rawness with which the perpetrators act in the chat shocks the girls in front of the computer cameras, the film team in the studio and the audience.
The cinematic staging is double-edged: the images of the perpetrators, which only seem to consist of greedy eyes and mouths and disgusting bodies, are cut with close-ups on the facial expressions of the adult, but still very young women, who are childishly attractive were made. The actresses are required to adhere to fixed rules in their contact with the men. This includes the clear emphasis on age, to show oneself shyly, they only give out fake nude photos upon repeated request. “Stick to the rules”, it sounds from the director. The filmmakers behind the screens show their dismay but also a certain hunting fever. It seems to be irrelevant that one of the very young actresses in the casting had reported her own negative childhood experiences on the net.
Mental abuse
The psychologist classifies what happens to children on the Internet: “The children’s experiences are saved as a normal standard in terms of sexuality, relationship problems and fears in later life are preprogrammed.” How stressful the raw images and verbal violence for them young women, it becomes clear when one of the girls sheds tears. She chats with a young man who actually only wants to talk to her and she warns against sexual abuse on the net. The sexologist in the team explains the behavior of the assaulting men as an expert: “Men think that if the girl does not defend herself emphatically, that is to be understood as consent. And that’s just wishful thinking. ”Of the men who hunt children on the Internet, only about three percent are pedophiles.
The film
Photo: Hypermarket Film / Filmwelt Verleihagentur
The film “Gefangen im Netz” was made in the Czech Republic in 2020, and has been around in Germany since June 2021. It can be viewed exclusively online on the website gefangenimnetz.de. A streaming ticket costs 8.99 euros. It also enables school classes to see a shorter, specially edited version of the film free of charge. There is also accompanying material. The website also provides information on advice and assistance in the event of sexual abuse, the legal situation and political demands. The project is supported by various aid organizations.
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The lawyer called in speaks of coercion, sexual abuse, extortion, seduction and rape of minors in view of the images captured, resulting in prison sentences of up to five years. “The abuse is not physical, but emotional.”
It is important to the filmmakers to use their film to raise awareness in order to combat cybergrooming in the long term. In the weakened and shortened school version with an age rating of twelve and over, the explicit images have been cut out. The project’s homepage promises to educate children about the risks and dangers on the Internet here from experts. The feature-length film with a release from the age of 16 leaves a stale aftertaste, however, due to the way in which abuse in the social media is documented by a media staging.
At the end of the film, one of the perpetrators, who could be identified as a youth tour guide, is caught by the film team with the cameras running and confronted with the anger and sadness of the young actress. He is unapologetic: “There are worse things on television. Nothing at all happened … If children don’t know what is proper, it’s the parents’ fault and by no means mine. ”And last but not least:“ It’s just a game to endure all the pressure. Do you not even notice how everything is slowly going down the drain here? ”So the perpetrator suddenly becomes a victim. On the basis of the footage, the Czech police were able to initiate several criminal proceedings, says the credits.
From: Carola Bruhier
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