(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

The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) in partnership with Standard Chartered has published Cryptocurrency and the Trade of Online Child Sexual Abuse Material, a review of the...

...Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported a 63% increase in reports of child sexual abuse material online in just the first 9 months of the year as compared to the year before,...

(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

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Since 2018, Child Helpline International and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) have partnered to support five target countries in implementing a collaborative approach to combat online...

...20 years, ICMEC has been leading efforts to make the world safer for children from abduction, sexual abuse and exploitation. Their work reaches across every continent, and ICMEC’s Global Missing...

...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....

...Exploited Children (ICMEC) The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) (www.icmec.org) is making the world safer for children by eradicating child abduction, sexual abuse, and exploitation. We advocate,...

(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

Join our 5x Matching Challenge to bring every missing child back to safety. Your support today will help ensure every missing child is seen, searched for, and returned to safety....

(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

...criminal justice professionals. Since then, ICMEC has worked with partners in Guatemala to: establish Latin America’s first Specialized Unit Against Online Child Sexual Exploitation within the Public Ministry in the...

...They selected the International Centre and Child Helpline International as grantee partners to develop and implement a model response system to help victims of online child sexual abuse and exploitation...

...work to make the world a safer place for children.” The Global Fund to End Violence Against Children will receive ICMEC’s coveted Champion for Children Award, for its remarkable ability...

...Missing and Exploited Children as your charity of choice and Amazon Smiles will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to our work to create a safer world for every child....

If you donate to a donor-advised fund (DAF), please use the menu below to make a donation from your Fidelity Charity, Schwab Charitable, or BNY Mellon Charitable Gift Fund account....

...evidence found online, and gain more insights into online acts and behavior, as well as evidence in criminal cases. About Paliscope Paliscope is professional software for online investigations. Used by...

...are resources for: Helplines which will connect victims and families with support services. Hotlines to allow you to report illegal activity, including online child sexual abuse material or imagery.  ...

(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

...that enhance the detection and investigation of crimes against children online within the bounds of privacy laws. advocate for enhanced laws to defend children from harm online. We acknowledge with...

(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

(UNODC) This Case Digest arose from a need the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identified among practitioners who fight trafficking, to be given tools to address typical evidential problems which arise in trafficking cases. Therefore, the Case Digest aims first and foremost to assist criminal justice practitioners worldwide in addressing the evidential issues typical to trafficking cases, under the assumption that there are particular issues which recur and are central to the success or failure of cases. It aims to equip these practitioners with an arsenal of possible creative solutions that have been tried and tested elsewhere in actual cases before courts. It is hoped that by using these tools, practitioners will be inspired to think “outside the box” when encountering problems related to evidential issues in human trafficking cases.Read More

(ICMEC) Developed as a supplement to Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review, this unique review looks at whether the 161 countries having anti-child pornography legislation in place as of the release of the 8^th Edition of the Model Legislation report are taking steps to support their national legislation. ICMEC assessed implementation efforts using a menu of concepts – 7 benchmarks – that represent well-rounded national responses. The report contains a detailed explanation of the benchmarks along with country-specific information.Read More

(ICMEC) The purpose of the Photo Distribution Framework is to explain the role a photo distribution strategy plays in engaging stakeholders, including media and the public, in the search for a missing child, and to clarify the difference between a photo distribution system and a rapid emergency child alert system. Distributing a missing child's photo along with key information about him or her can significantly increase the chances of a child's safe recovery.Read More

Awareness & Prevention Videos The Online Zoo (prepared by UNODC in collaboration with ICMEC) English Cyberbullying Grooming Online Shopping Sexting Use of Time Online O Jardim Zoológico Online (preparado pelo...

(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