Child pornography is a major abuse of a child s legal rights. Many countries have enacted specific legislation that explicitly outlaws child pornography, but a large number have not, seemingly relying instead on existing or wider laws relating to pornography or general laws relating to the corruption of minors. In some countries all forms of pornography are illegal, but in those where pornography is legal, the age of consent to participate in it does not always coincide with the age of majority. In many countries it has been linked to the lower age of consent to sex. Damage to children The damage which sex abuse can do to a child is extremely grave. If, in addition, the abuse has been captured via a pornographic image, the original abuse is both compounded and magnified. Modern technology allows images to be digitised and stored on computers very easily. In effect such images then become ineradicable records of abuse.