Children, anywhere in the world, can become victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. This is a horrific episode in a person's life and often causes long-term trauma. The threat of abuse is not only posed by strangers but more often by someone close to the child, such as relatives, peers and close family.

The statistics of sexual crimes against children are growing at an alarming rate and modern technologies are exacerbating the challenges. Society needs to action to protect children from harm.

The challenges to be addressed require a more holistic, whole-system response. It is imperative that we utilise all avenues available to maximise changes for positive impact. We must not only focus on law enforcement’s efforts, but also tackle the issues from a legislative and legal perspective and put barriers in place that increase child safety. Likewise, we must work to better understand the risk factors leading to the perpetration of child sexual abuse, and provide improved access to support for those at risk of offending. Similarly, it is critical that victims and survivors of abuse are heard, and that new approaches consider their needs.

Through recognition of the scale of the problems, we can proactively take steps to protect children. We must also ensure we remove the stigma of talking about the issues to help encourage people coming forward to report abuse but also to help motivate those with concerning thoughts towards children to step up and seek help.

Child sexual abuse can be preventable. Let’s take action to protect children.

“Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation” is a term used for the broad spectrum of sexual crimes committed against children. This includes causing a child to witness sexual activities or sexual abuse, engaging in sexual activities with a child, and coercing, forcing, or threatening a child into sexual activities with a third party. It also includes viewing, sharing and taking sexually explicit materials of children.

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From 2020 to 2022 there was an increase of 360% in ‘self-generated’ sexual material of 7-10 year old children (Source)

These crimes can be committed without explicit force. Moreover, if the child has not reached the age of sexual consent, just the fact of the sexual activity taking place is sufficient to constitute abuse.

Often CSAM is so-called 'self-generated' after a child is coerced and blackmailed to produce it. However, there is also a lot of material which is voluntarily made but shared without consent. This is exploitation. We must emphasise the dangers and consequences of creating, sharing and using CSAM.

Abuse often takes place in spaces familiar to children. This can be their homes or the homes of close relatives. It also happens in schools or different places where they learn and play. Other vital spaces to monitor are virtual ones, such as the internet, social media, gaming platforms, etc. There is a need for improved education about the threats of the internet and to create safe online environments. Close collaboration is necessary with education bodies to ensure the correct resources are provided and signposted.

“Child Sexual Abuse Material” or “Child Sexual Exploitation Material” is any material that depicts acts that are sexually abusive and/or exploitative to a child, including all photos and videos of a child who is engaged in sexual activity. These terms are recently being used to replace another term – “child pornography”, which is still used in legal documents.