The ways offenders abuse and harm children online is constantly changing. Those working to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation have reported a significant increase in ‘Sextortion’. This is where offenders manipulate children into producing sexualised content and then use it as a form of blackmail to extort more abuse content or money.

As we navigate the response to child sexual exploitation, understanding the different ways offenders harm children is vital. Sexual extortion is now the number one issue for online child sex crime fighters.  

This downloadable resource has been constructed using research and findings from the Australian Federal Police, the eSafety Commissioner, and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.

The Children in the Pictures is a groundbreaking documentary that was released in 2022. With an accompanying podcast that delves even deeper, the film centres on the vital work of victim identification investigators in fighting this crime. 

Focusing on the Queensland Police Service’s Taskforce Argos, The Children in the Pictures series is an incredibly important watch, and listen, for us all – whether you work directly in child protection or not.

The sexual exploitation of children is an insidious crime which harms far too many children. It’s historically a topic of conversation that most of society is too confronted by and would rather avoid discussing. In order to shift the dial we have a responsibility to encourage constructive public discourse about this serious crime. 

Sexual exploitation and abuse irrevocably harms children. And there is often a misconception that when there is an online aspect to the abuse, it reduces the seriousness of the crime. Each image and video harms a child, and the majority of child sexual abuse material found online involves the physical abuse of a child. 

Download this ICMEC Australia resource for a general overview of this crime and key statistics.