A new report from the Digital Futures for Children Centre highlights the complexities of classifying and addressing technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). We were honoured to contribute to this research, with our Director of Partnerships and Operations Helen Mason and myself sharing the perspective of child helplines on the issue.
Being part of an expert network such as this once again underscores the vital role that child helplines all over the world play in protecting children and young people in the digital age.
Challenges in Categorizing Online CSEA
Defining and categorizing Online or Technology-Facilitated CSEA is challenging due to its fast-evolving nature, technological complexity and cultural diversity. For international organizations like Child Helpline International, it’s crucial to balance detailed data collection with practical frameworks that ensure inclusivity and compliance across regions. Although granular data can better capture the nuances of abuse – such as grooming across multiple platforms – it risks complicating data submission. Conversely, simplified frameworks enhance usability but may miss key details. This tension remains a critical focus as we prepare to launch our annual data collection survey on the contacts children and young people make to our child helpline members around the world.
Building on Our Research
These challenges have been on our mind for quite some time. In November 2023, we published a report with our partners Tech Matters on categorizing Online CSEA, which found that:
- Only 2-4% of violence-related contacts to child helplines between 2019 and 2021 pertained to OCSEA, suggesting significant under-reporting.
- Current frameworks often fail to reflect the complexities of abuse, especially cases which have both an online and an offline component.
- There is no consensus on how to categorize certain cases within the existing framework.
- National awareness campaigns about the role of child helplines are critical in improving data collection and public understanding.
As a consequence of our research, we updated our harmonized data framework, the tool we use to collect data from our members. Under the category of “Violence” we merged “Online Child Sexual Abuse” and “Online Child Sexual Exploitation” to create one subcategory, encompassing all contacts that were made about sexual violence occurring in the digital sphere.
The new report from the Digital Futures for Children Centre offers valuable insights that complement our findings and will guide future improvements.
Moving Forward
Anastasia Shuster, PhD
Data & Research Manager
