The global fight against Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) requires that the different actors involved have tools and models that allow them to understand, evaluate, and optimize the response capacities of the countries and the articulation of these capacities at the inter-sectoral, regional, and international levels.

This paper aims to conduct a Comparative Analysis of the Multisectoral Response and Capacity Assessments (MRC) that were conducted by ICMEC's National Capacity Development program in 11 countries and 3 different regions of the world between December 2021 and March 2024.

This protocol provides a framework to guide school leaders and strengthen decision-making as they manage allegations of child abuse by educators and other adults currently or previously working in international school settings. Building on the work of the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) and the Safeguarding Unit at Farrer & Co, we continue our work across professions to develop child protection resources for the international school community. We intend to enable schools to achieve the highest possible standards in child protection and safeguarding, which may exceed those set by local law.Read More

This groundbreaking report, often referred to as ICMEC's Rule of Law project, analyzes child sexual abuse material (CSAM) legislation in 196 countries around the world, and offers a “menu” of concepts to be considered when drafting anti-CSAM legislation. First released in April 2006, the report is currently in its 10^th edition. The latest edition's findings show that since inception 150 countries have refined or implemented new anti-CSAM legislation, 140 countries criminalize simple CSAM possession, 125 countries define CSAM, and only 32 countries require ISP reporting of suspected CSAM.Read More

February 2023, ICMEC Report - Protecting children against sexual offences in ASEAN Member States An overview and analysis of the current legal framework for the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse in ASEAN Member States. Published by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.Read More

April 2022 (ICMEC)  Millions of children around the world—accompanied and unaccompanied—have been forced to migrate or displaced within their countries. Their lack of maturity and education, as well as vulnerabilities related to their ongoing physical and psychological development, predispose them to an increased risk of exploitation and to going missing prior to, during, and after their migratory journeys. With this publication, we hope to provide even greater insight into the ongoing and ever-evolving issue of child migration and the risks children face throughout their journeys.  ICMEC aims to encourage cross-sector, cross-industry collaboration and engagement; promote ongoing training and education of healthcare professionals, educators, border personnel, and other key stakeholders; and encourage the provision of safe spaces for children regardless of their migrant status to ensure their basic rights are being upheld. With the proper resources, partnerships, and tools in place, migrant children will have a better chance of living healthier and safer lives. Read More

October 2021 (ICMEC, Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & Delos Angeles) The purpose of this paper is to strengthen the child protection legal framework such that it leaves no child in the Philippines vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse. The analysis and recommendations reflect the real-world challenges faced by dozens of professionals navigating the, admittedly, robust child protection legal framework in the Philippines, and recommendations from a diverse stakeholder group that supports the child protection agenda. The paper enumerates several impediments faced by law enforcement, regulators, policymakers, private industry, civil society, and others to advance effective action to combat this crime. Through practical recommendations, we endeavor to detail the current legal statutes that hinder or collectively challenge operational action by the diverse stakeholder group. We respectfully urge policymakers in the Philippines Congress to take up the cause and support the review, revision, and/or drafting of new legislation that will address the challenges identified to close the gaps that still exist leaving our children vulnerable.Read More

All ICMEC resources are applicable to children with different abilities and needs.  Some resources are written to address specific vulnerabilities of children with commuication or psychosocial disabilities, in particular Austistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).  These research-informed resources were compiled by trusted child protection partners such as NCMEC (US), NAS (US), NSPCC (UK), SWGfL (UK), and INEQE (UK).Read More

WHO - This handbook addresses the key elements of violence or abuse prevention in schools. It provides guidance for school officials and education authorities on how schools can embed violence prevention within their routine activities and across the points of interaction schools provide with children, parents and other community members. If implemented, the handbook will contribute much to helping achieve the SDGs and other global health and development goals. Produced by the World Health Organization in collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF.  Available in English, Spanish and French.Read More

This toolkit is designed to assist medical and mental health professionals, health administrators, government officials, shelter staff, and other care providers in assessing and improving health care services available to trafficked children and adults, either on-site at their own organization, or at one or more local facilities (‘referral network’). The kit contains four sections: (1) an overview of human trafficking, (2) a service-assessment tool for determining strengths and challenges in a given facility’s medical and/or mental health care delivery, (3) guidelines for developing or improving medical and mental health services for trafficked persons, and (4) a template for organizing the names of key local and national partners and their contact information. This list will help ensure comprehensive care for trafficked persons.Read More

This groundbreaking report, often referred to as ICMEC's Rule of Law project, analyzes child sexual abuse material (CSAM) legislation in 196 countries around the world, and offers a “menu” of concepts to be considered when drafting anti-CSAM legislation. First released in April 2006, the report is currently in its 9^th edition. The latest edition's findings show that since inception 150 countries have refined or implemented new anti-CSAM legislation, 140 countries criminalize simple CSAM possession, 125 countries define CSAM, and only 32 countries require ISP reporting of suspected CSAM. For a brief overview of the 9^th edition click here.Read More

(ICMEC) - The Internet has global reach, which fuels the need for international legal cooperation to develop more stringent, overt laws to protect children from technology-facilitated child sex trafficking. While vast research exists regarding child sex trafficking broadly, this paper specifically focuses on: how and why technology is increasingly used to recruit, advertise, and send/receive payments for child sex trafficking; examining available international and regional legal instruments; reviewing a sampling of relevant national legislation; presenting model legislative language for consideration; and discussing the role of the technology and financial industries to deter traffickers from misusing their platforms to sexually exploit children.Read More

(ICMEC) The purpose of this paper is to define and analyze sexual extortion and nonconsensual pornography as they impact children, as well as to better understand obstacles to prevention, policy intervention, and prosecution. This paper, framed with a global perspective, also presents effective, model legislative responses and highlights global efforts that are readily adaptable by individual countries to combat the growing number of cases of children who are exploited via sexual extortion and the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images.Read More

(ICMEC) Infographic for parents evaluating supervisory programs for children from a child protection perspective. This document provides tips for what parents can ask about, observe and challenge when evaluating child-serving organizations or programs.Read More

(Keeping Children Safe Coalition, 2014) The first Child Safeguarding Standards were launched over 12 years ago by a coalition of relief and development charities that later became known as Keeping Children Safe. Since then there has been a growing recognition that, as well as risks to children from staff and associates, inappropriately designed programmes and poor operational management can also create the possibility of risks to children. Keeping Children Safe represents a commitment by those working in this sector to ensure that their organisations “do no harm” and that they meet the responsibilities set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect children from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. An online audit tool is available, and this pdf is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Korean.Read More

(World Health Organization) These clinical guidelines are aimed at helping frontline health workers, primarily from low resource settings, in providing evidence-based, quality, trauma-informed care to survivors. The guidelines emphasize the importance of promoting safety, offering choices and respecting the wishes and autonomy of children and adolescents. They cover recommendations for post-rape care and mental health; and approaches to minimizing distress in the process of taking medical history, conducting examination and documenting findings.Read More

(ICMEC) Prompted by the increasing number of cases of online grooming of children and relative lack of awareness of the growing issue, this original report analyzes legislation related to the online grooming of children for sexual purposes in 196 countries around the world. The report includes sections regarding definitions; offenses; and sanctions and sentencing, followed by an overview of related regional and international law, a discussion of implementation and good initiatives, and a global review of country-specific legislation that evaluates national legislation against 5 core criteria.Read More

(ECPAT International) The Terminology Guidelines for the protection of children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse ("Luxembourg Guidelines") are a tool guiding child protection professionals all over the world in their choice of words. Adopted by large consensus by the Interagency Working Group (IWG), composed of major international child protection agencies, they contribute to a more coherent, but also a more adequate and child-centered terminology in the work against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. To respond to the needs expressed by child protection professionals, and make sure that the Luxembourg Guidelines can be a useful tool for professionals at all levels, ECPAT International developed this Handbook to facilitate the translation and adaptation of the Luxembourg Guidelines into other languages.

(ICMEC) Infographic outlines phases of comprehensive child protection planning for schools including abuse prevention education and the professional development needed by staff. Through ICMEC's Education Portal and Global Training Academy, educators are equipped to help prevent, identify and intervene in cases of child abuse, neglect and exploitation.Read More

(ICMEC, combined and derived with permission from Education Portal resources from NCTSN, CfC, UKCCIS, AISA)  Know who is at risk, the facts about abuse, the signs and indicators of abuse and how to protect children in your care. Information for school staff, volunteers and families to prevent abuse and identify and respond to it should it occur.Read More

(ICMEC) This paper examines several cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, and the Blockchain architecture that supports them.  It provides a summary of the underground and illicit uses of the currencies, as well as ramifications for law enforcement and industry.  Read More

(Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety, ICMEC) This report describes the impact of the Internet on the production and distribution of child pornography. It makes a number of suggestions about how states can join in the global fight against this vile misuse of cyber-space. In particular, the report presents a range of legal measures which Commonwealth Member States might consider adopting and it sets them in the context of wider initiatives designed to make the Internet a safer place for children and young people the world over. The primary audience for the toolkit is the Commonwealth but it is hoped that it might be of interest to a wider range of countries and professionals with an interest in child protection. This is the third edition of the toolkit. It updates the second edition, published in 2012.Read More

(ICMEC, UNICEF) The primary objective of these guidelines is to determine whether laws and policies exist in Latin America that address prevention, reporting mechanisms, tools, and specialized units for the investigation and prosecution of crimes related to online child sexual abuse and exploitation through the review of the regulatory frameworks in each country. The guidelines are intended to be used by relevant stakeholders including law enforcement, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and governmental and non-governmental organizations seeking to promote reform in legislation and in their fields of action, as well as to advocate for the development and reform of policies concerning prevention, victim assistance, and investigation of production, sale, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material.Read More

(UNICEF) UNICEF commissioned this report to better understand online risks faced by children, identify gaps in legislation, ensure removal of harmful materials, support investigation and law enforcement and to identify services for victims of online exploitation and abuse. The aim was to identify priorities for government, NGOs, IT companies and other international agencies and determine appropriate interventions.Read More

(UKCCIS) Produced by the UK Counsel for Child Internet Safety, this cornerstone advice is for school heads and child protection designates or designated safeguarding leads on youth produced sexual imagery. Research found that 61% of secondary school head teachers reported this as a greater concern than smoking, drugs, obesity or offline bullying. This advice covers responding to disclosures, handling devices and imagery, assessing risk, reporting protocols, recording incidents, involving parents, supporting victims and victimizers, and preventative safeguarding and IT education. Resource lists, reporting forms, incident flow charts and staff training materials are included.Read More

(Allen & Overy) This report was prepared in connection with the proposed establishment of the Asia-Pacific Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography.Read More

(ECPAT, Terminology and Semantics Interagency Working Group on Sexual Exploitation of Children) The purpose of this document is to provide all individuals and agencies working for the prevention and elimination of all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children with guidance for the understanding and use of the different terms and concepts they may encounter in their work.  Read More

(ICMEC, The World Bank, Associação dos Juízes Federais da Primeira Região do Brasil) In the framework of the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development, ICMEC, The World Bank and Associação dos Juízes Federais da Primeira Região do Brasil published a Latin America regional study on legislative responses for the protection of children from violence through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in response to a growing concern over the use of ICTs to commit violence against children.

(ICMEC, The World Bank) In the framework of the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development, ICMEC and The World Bank published an Asian regional study on legislative responses for the protection of children from violence through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in response to a growing concern over the use of ICTs to commit violence against children.Read More

(Lanning and Dietz, 2014) Article dispels myths and addresses misconceptions about acquaintance molesters and enables youth-serving organizations to recognize barriers to identification and adoption of best practice in order to do the most the law allows rather than the least the law requires. Published online 23 May 2014 "Journal of Interpersonal Violence," 29, 2815-2838Read More