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

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

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) 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

(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

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

(ROCIT) In recent years, the theme of digital safety for children has become more urgent, and has led to the active organization of outreach activities to raise awareness regarding dangerous Internet content and to promote prevention of Internet-based threats. Secondary educational institutions, clubs for children and teenagers, cultural institutions, as well as the Internet, and in some cases, can all be utilized to this end and may provide a more systematic approach/framework/structure to the activities. Often organizers are hindered by a lack of information and a clear understanding of what should be discussed at such events. This guide is designed specifically for those cases in which professionals, who wish to engage in outreach/awareness work focused on digital content safety for children and adolescents, must first obtain a basic understanding of the problem and its characteristics in order to determine the further selection of specific materials and literature. The guide addresses the primary types of Internet content that pose threats to children along with basic steps to stop the circulation of these types of content.Read More

(UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office) This report provides a benchmark of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States’ current efforts to effectively and comprehensively address child sexual abuse and exploitation, both online and offline.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

(ICMEC, Thomson Reuters) This report of the Digital Economy Task Force, led by ICMEC and Thomson Reuters, explores the benefits and risks of the emerging digital economy, and provides recommendations for policymakers, financial institutions, law enforcement, and others.Read More

(International Telecommunications Union) These updated guidelines for industry on child online protection provide advice on how the information and communication technology industry can help promote safety for children using the Internet or any technologies or devices that can connect to it.Read More

(ICMEC, APAC-FCACP) The goal of this paper is to help companies manage risk and relationships by providing information on the digital platforms/business models that can be abused for the purpose of distributing child sexual exploitation content.Read More

(ICMEC) This article reviews the international legal framework and supporting initiatives aimed at combating the abuse of information and communication technologies for purposes of child sex trafficking.Read More

(ICMEC, APAC-FCACP), This report details what precautions file sharing and file hosting companies can take to help ensure that child sexual exploitation content is not stored, hosted, reproduced, or distributed by users of their services.Read More

(ICMEC, Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety) This report updated the one previously released in 2010, and describes the impact of the Internet on the production and distribution of child pornography. It presents a range of legal measures that 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 around the world.Read More

(U.S. FCACP) The intent of this report is to highlight emerging trends in cybercrime/cybersecurity and to evoke thought and discussion about their potential impact on the child safety arena. Each section delves into examples of activities that have garnered the attention of the researchers and professionals working to combat cybercrime.Read More

(ICMEC, Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety) This report describes the impact of the Internet on the production and distribution of child pornography. It presents a range of legal measures which Commonwealth Member States might consider adopting and sets them in the context of wider initiatives designed to make the Internet a safer place for children and young people the world over.Read More

(International Telecommunications Union) These guidelines for policymakers  help individual countries plan for their strategies for child online protection in the short, medium and longer term.Read More

(International Telecommunications Union) These guidelines for parents, guardians and educators provide recommendations on what they can do to make their child’s online experience a positive one.Read More

(International Telecommunications Union) These guidelines advise children  on possible harmful activities online, such as bullying and harassment, identity theft, and online abuse. The guidelines also include advice to children seeing and experiencing harmful and illegal content online, or young people being exposed to grooming for sexual purposes, the production, distribution and collection of child abuse material.Read More

(U.S. FCACP) This paper, written by the U.S. Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography’s Technology Challenges Working Group, addresses current trends in migration, hosting and payment specific to commercial child pornography websites.Read More

(U.S. FCACP) This document contains a compilation of methods that some U.S. Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography members have used in their application and verification process, and thereafter, to detect child pornographers and prevent them from establishing or maintaining merchant accounts.Read More

(ICMEC) The report includes findings from the April 2005 Lyon Forum, which explored the current state of and emerging trends in child pornography, assessed the progress made on the Dublin Plan, and adjusted its recommendations for future actions accordingly.Read More