Identity under threat: internal conflict and stigma in undetected child sexual abuse material users
Lucia Nemcová, Adam Schreier, Tereza Karousová, Lucie Kalenská, Gabriel Bianchi, Maria Breide, Stina Lindegren, Rafael Ballester-Arnal, Peer Briken, Michal Chovanec, Sophie Dixelius, Marcel Elipe-Miravet, Lisann Högström, Johan Holmberg, Tarik Korkutan, Jozef Metenko, Sabine Prantner, Ellen Zakreski, Christoffer Rahm, Kateřina Klapilová · 2026
Read Identity under threat: internal conflict and stigma in undetected child sexual abuse material users by Lucia Nemcová, Adam Schreier, Tereza Karousová, Lucie Kalenská, Gabriel Bianchi, Maria Breide, Stina Lindegren, Rafael Ballester-Arnal, Peer Briken, Michal Chovanec, Sophie Dixelius, Marcel Elipe-Miravet, Lisann Högström, Johan Holmberg, Tarik Korkutan, Jozef Metenko, Sabine Prantner, Ellen Zakreski, Christoffer Rahm, Kateřina Klapilová (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13473276.txt.
Description
Nemcová and colleagues report a 2026 qualitative study of people who use child sexual abuse material but have never been caught, a group rarely heard from directly. Through anonymous chat-based interviews in an EU prevention project, 32 help-seeking users assessed as low to medium risk described their experiences in four languages.
Participants described their use as deeply distressing, marked by a felt loss of control, inner conflict, threat to their identity, and heavy stigma. The explanations they gave for their behavior served to manage shame and responsibility. Secrecy, isolation, and scarce support blocked help-seeking. Stable relationships, emotional well-being, and structured daily life helped people engage with services. The authors argue prevention should address stigma and ambivalence directly, with low-threshold, culturally sensitive support.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Lucia Nemcová, Adam Schreier, Tereza Karousová, Lucie Kalenská, Gabriel Bianchi, Maria Breide, Stina Lindegren, Rafael Ballester-Arnal, Peer Briken, Michal Chovanec, Sophie Dixelius, Marcel Elipe-Miravet, Lisann Högström, Johan Holmberg, Tarik Korkutan, Jozef Metenko, Sabine Prantner, Ellen Zakreski, Christoffer Rahm, Kateřina Klapilová |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 105 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |