COPINE scale

The The COPINE Scale is a rating system created in Ireland and used in the United Kingdom to categorise the severity of child pornography. It has been pointed out that children looking at themselves in the mirror view child pornography scoring high on the COPINE scale:

If a teen makes a sexy pose in front of the mirror, what s/he sees is a live version of level 4 child pornography, according to the copine scale: "Deliberately posed pictures of children fully clothed, partially clothed or naked (where the amount,context and organisation suggests sexual interest)."

If they look straight at their genitals, they see a live version of copine level 6 CP: "Pictures emphasizing genital areas, where the child is either naked, partially clothed or fully clothed."

They see level 7, If they touch themselves, with their eyes open: "Pictures that depict touching, mutual and self-masturbation, oral sex and intercourse by a child, not involving an adult."

Scale

The COPINE Scale

1	Indicative	Non-erotic and non-sexualised pictures showing children in their underwear, swimming costumes from either commercial sources or family albums. Pictures of children playing in normal settings, in which the context or organisation of pictures by the collector indicates inappropriateness.
2	Nudist	Pictures of naked or semi-naked children in appropriate nudist settings, and from legitimate sources.
3	Erotica	Surreptitiously taken photographs of children in play areas or other safe environments showing either underwear or varying degrees of nakedness.
4	Posing	Deliberately posed pictures of children fully clothed, partially clothed or naked (where the amount, context and organisation suggests sexual interest).
5	Erotic Posing	Deliberately posed pictures of fully, partially clothed or naked children in sexualised or provocative poses.
6	Explicit Erotic Posing	Pictures emphasising genital areas, where the child is either naked, partially clothed or fully clothed.
7	Explicit Sexual Activity	Pictures that depict touching, mutual and self-masturbation, oral sex and intercourse by a child, not involving an adult.
8	Assault	Pictures of children being subject to a sexual assault, involving digital touching, involving an adult.
9	Gross Assault	Grossly obscene pictures of sexual assault, involving penetrative sex, masturbation or oral sex, involving an adult.
10	Sadistic/Bestiality	a. Pictures showing a child being tied, bound, beaten, whipped or otherwise subject to something that implies pain. b. Pictures where an animal is involved in some form of sexual behaviour with a child.

Criticism

The COPINE scale totally fails to consider 2 other important dimensions:

• age: penetrative sex with a toddler or with a 17 year old have the same rating (Copine 9 out of 10).
• consent vs. non-consent: consensual sadomasochistic spanking play of adolescent minors or kidnapping torture are the same (Copine 10, the highest rating).