We are please to announce RedCompass Labs as the first of several recipients of our Child Protection Fund (CPF) grants.

Launched in July 2022, we established the CPF to support innovative data-driven approaches that help to reduce and prevent child sexual exploitation (CSE).

UK-based payments expert services company, RedCompass Labs specialises in the disruption of financial crime through investigation and analytics services. Their successful proposal to the Fund aims to provide Australian banks and other financial institutions with access to cutting-edge risk management insights relating to CSE. Using big data analysis, the online pilot, the Australian RedFlag Accelerator CSE Portal, will provide Australian financial institutions with additional localised intelligence to assist their work in the detection and reporting of CSE. Developing these localised insights and logic enhances the ability for financial institutions to detect crimes against children.

Paul Jevtovic, Chief Financial Crime Risk Officer & Executive MLRO, NAB says: “Keeping customers safe and criminals out of the financial system is a top priority for NAB and we are delivering data-driven approaches to combat financial crimes. The Child Protection Fund investment in the Australian RedFlags and Portal is a positive step to support critical efforts to combat exploitation. The project should further support the sharing of best-practice across the financial services sector.”

We first introduced the work of RedCompass Labs to Australian financial institutions crimes units in 2022.

“We received a lot of interest from our financial institution partners in the type of data that RedCompass Labs gathers and analyses,” says Anna Bowden, CEO ICMEC Australia.

“This encouraged RedCompass Labs to apply for our funding to be able to provide Australian-specific data and typologies for the first time to our financial institutions via an online portal.”

Our funding approach is catalytic, and outcomes focused. Funding strategies include grants, impact investing and, the approach with RedCompass Labs, venture philanthropy. Essentially operating as a pre-seed investment vehicle, the CPF identifies innovations with significant potential for impact that need initial support to deliver a pilot or proof of concept.

The incubator-style fund combines financial with non-financial support through our Partnerships and Data Products teams. This facilitates collaboration and product adoption by the organisation’s stakeholders and promotes the sustainability and scalability of these disruptive innovations.

“By covering the initial risk capital, we have facilitated access to multiple financial services companies – removing commercial limitations and significantly increasing the impact of the program.”

We have already established support from four of our partner Australian financial institutions, including three of the Big Four banks, to work closely with RedCompass Labs as they design and build the CSE portal.

“This collaboration will ensure that the project will deliver the data in accessible and usable formats and enhance bank processes when detecting this crime type within their transactions.”

The pilot with RedCompass Labs is one of several initiatives that we will facilitate in partnership with the major financial services institutions across Australia. Additional projects will include leveraging and collating data from a variety of internet sources, sponsoring the creation of a global best practices implementation manual in CSE investigation and ongoing initiatives such as the Collaboration Working Group, that brings together senior professionals in financial crime, law enforcement, regulation and child protection NGOs.

“This funding opportunity and partnership with ICMEC Australia is an incredible boost to our mission to disrupt child sexual exploitation. We look forward to leveraging our deep payments and data science expertise and working alongside ICMEC Australia and Australian banks to protect children from exploitation”, said Jonathan Bell, Partner and President, RedCompass Labs.

We will measure and review the successes of this pilot project with RedCompass Labs throughout the pilot phase. The results will help determine further opportunities to scale-up the portal access to more Australian financial institutions, with the ultimate aim to rollout availability to any financial institution in the Asia-Pacific region.

If you would like to know more about the Child Protection Fund please send an email to our Head of Impact, Tiphanie Au at tau@icmec.org.au.

As a community we can all play a critical role in protecting children from harm. Whether you’re a frontline law enforcement officer, a parent, teacher or just someone who is a social media user, changing the public conversation surrounding the sexual abuse and exploitation of children is critical to reaching better outcomes for children. Using consistent and accurate terminology helps to generate awareness of current threats and issues, and can engage more people in taking action.

The news media is a critical platform for raising public awareness, communicating messages, shaping perceptions and breaking taboos about child sexual abuse and exploitation. Media professionals have considerable power and responsibilities through their storytelling role, from the way that they frame stories to the language and terminology they use. These stories and the wider public discourse that they generate can lead to a positive or negative impact on children and victim survivors of sexual abuse. Choosing the words we use in these conversations is an exercise in care and consideration.

In February Dr Kerry McCallum presented an outline of  her research, conducted with her team at the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra, to the attendees of our inaugural Monthly Brown Bag session. Through this research they are pioneering the development of media guidelines for the reporting of child sexual abuse. Inspired by the production of reporting guides on the reporting of suicide and metal ill-health, which was critical to shift the nature of the conversation around these issues, Dr McCallum’s team is working towards a set of guidelines that they hope will shape a new public conversation on child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Early results from their current research indicates that biases, uncovered in previous research, towards institutional and celebrity involvement in child sexual exploitation in media reporting of CSE are still prevalent, with the majority of stories focused on the perpetrator. Of the news stories that Dr McCallum’s team analysed, the perpetrator was the main subject in a vast majority of them. Victims and survivors were the focus in only 14% of articles.

Changing the way that media stories are framed, making them more victim survivor-centric, broadening the topics and creating more awareness through sharing stories of real people has a significant impact on changing public perception around the subject of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and ultimately saves more children from harm.

If you weren’t able to attend Dr McCallum’s presentation, the recording is available to members of the ICMEC Australia Member Portal, managed by our Partnerships Team. Dr McCallum has also taken part in an interview with our team to explore the concepts of her work more deeply and discuss how we can contribute as a response community to creating change. The resulting article will be published in our Member Portal shortly.

If you’re a member of the child sexual exploitation response ecosystem and you’re not yet a Member of the Portal, you can apply to register here. Once approved, you’ll gain access to exclusive content, like the interview with Dr McCallum, to help in the fight against CSE. Being a member of the Portal also gives you the opportunity to connect with cross-sector participants to facilitate collaborative solutions to this wicked problem.

One of the key messages to emerge from our UCD research last year was that the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation (CSE) are networked and collaborative. Our response to combating this heinous crime needs to be equally collaborative. As our mission is to facilitate cross-industry collaboration and support the implementation of data-collaborative solutions that can enhance the detection, reporting, and prosecution of CSE, we needed a tool that could enable continuous connection between stakeholders.

After our beta testing phase in 2022, we are pleased to announce that the Production Edition of our Member Portal is now live! The portal is a collaborative hub for all our partners working tirelessly to fight against child sexual exploitation and abuse. Whether this is across financial services, law enforcement, regulators, academia, online platforms, or the not-for-profit sector, our Member Portal is an online space designed to help cross-industry professionals to connect.

We provide a multi-layered approach to collaboration within the CSE response ecosystem through events, the Collaboration Working Group and initiatives such as the APAC Financial Coalition Forum, in conjunction with our global colleagues. Our Member Portal is an expansion upon these more formal and infrequent methods of collaboration. It enables stakeholders to continue conversations, follow up on information, and connect and share at any time. And it helps those working to end this crime to be as networked as the perpetrators.

The Member Portal is expertly convened by our Community Manager, Francesca Funayama, who is on hand via the portal during business hours to assist with any queries about content, industry news or facilitating connections with other members of the community. Or, you can contact her via email at members@icmec.org.au.

By joining our Member Portal, you’ll gain access to exclusive ICMEC Australia content, curated news, a member directory to connect with other individuals working in the CSE disruption space, and a variety of expert groups where you can share information with likeminded members. And we are already receiving positive feedback from our members.

“I joined this community because I have been impressed with the work that ICMEC do including, and particularly, the advocacy work in this space,” said Julie Green, Research Assistant, Dept. Social Work, University of Melbourne.

“I really, really, really appreciate all the posts and links you have been sharing with the group. Thank you for keeping us all up to speed with important things going on.”

If you’re engaged in the fight against child sexual exploitation, we invite you to join our member portal.

Register here: https://members.icmec.org.au/

It’s time we started having uncomfortable conversations about one of the fastest growing crimes that disproportionately affects girls, leaving a lasting impact on their lives.

Child sexual exploitation is a subject that most people don’t want to talk about, especially in public forums. Much like our aversion to discussing domestic and family violence before Rosie Batty bravely shared her pain to put the issue onto the public agenda almost ten years ago, it’s a topic that is difficult and fraught with misconception.

It’s estimated that one in five Australian girls has experienced sexual violence by the age of 15. And with several studies indicating that the rate of disclosure could be as low as 25%, it’s likely that many more are affected.

It’s an age-old problem, but the advent of the internet has seen the issue escalate as technology and perpetrator access to networks and sharing, both on the clear and dark webs, has improved. It has also added new crime types, ways to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and the ability for perpetrators to more freely groom masses of victims.

The week of International Women’s Day is a fitting time to acknowledge four Australian who women are putting child sexual abuse on the agenda and leading organisations on a mission to putting an end to the sexual exploitation of children in its many forms.

Julie Inman Grant – Australian eSafety Commissioner

Julie Inman Grant is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, leading the world’s first government regulator dedicated to keeping its citizens safer online. In this role Julie has launched the global Safety by Design initiative and led work to stand up novel and world-first regulatory regimes under the new Online Safety Act 2021, implementing a sweeping new set of online safety reforms. Julie spent two decades working in senior public policy and safety roles in the tech industry.

“We need online platforms to make it much harder for predators to view, produce, share and sell child exploitation material. While the exploitation of girls is an age-old issue, the demand for this type of material has been supercharged by the internet. The overwhelming majority of this deeply harmful and traumatising online material, 96 per cent of it, features girls.

“One of the biggest barriers we face is a lack of information about how far and wide this material is spreading. Our recent world-first transparency report revealed that industry is only tinkering at the edges of this horrific problem.

“And if we don’t know the extent of the harm, how can we possibly be taking the necessary steps to eradicate it?

“It’s time to stop ignoring the fact that crime of horrendous proportions is happening on the platforms we all use every day.”

Anna Bowden – CEO, ICMEC Australia

Anna Bowden’s extensive experience in impact investing, philanthropy and impact strategy is critical to her role as CEO of ICMEC Australia. Having worked across government, social impact organisations, foundations and consulting, Anna provides a deep understanding of outcomes-focused programs. With a very personal connection to the vital work of countering child sexual exploitation, Anna is now leading ICMEC Australia’s programs to implement innovative digital projects that help detect and report the online traces left by perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.

“We need all-in, whole-of-society partnerships to protect girls from the dangers that face them. For too long, we’ve shied away from this topic. It’s too horrendous, too awful, too painful to think about. That’s not helpful. We all need to fight this together. Victims, families, the private sector, government, society.

“I have two young girls, and I want them to grow up into a world which is much safer than it is today. I want them to know we all collaborated to create that world for them.”

“Perpetrators of this crime are networked. They collaborate and they share information, not just materials, but how to avoid detection, how to meet children. They collaborate and move quickly. We need to enable those fighting the crime to collaborate and share information as easily as the perpetrators do.

“We need a much greater focus on prevention, but we also need to be thinking about how we build the systems that will prevent this in two, three, five years, because the technology is changing so rapidly.”

Dr Leanne Beagley – CEO, The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse

Dr Leanne Beagley is a senior leader within child and family mental health, combining clinical experience with extensive contributions to policy change through roles within the Victorian Government and at a national level with health and advocacy organisations.

As the CEO of the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse (the National Centre), Leanne leverages her career passion for establishing a safe future for Australian children to drive real change. In her current role, she is doing this by crafting a response to the issue of child sexual exploitation based on the lived experience of victims and survivors of all ages.

“To create a safer future for girls, it is critical that relationships with parents, teachers and other trusted adults encourage sharing, education about personal boundaries and understanding of their own rights with regards to their bodies.”

“To avoid exploitation, it is integral that girls witness respect by other adults for the women in their lives in all settings and contexts.”

“Early discussions about online safety are also essential. One of the key issues preventing us from keeping girls safe is a lack of understanding and education around online grooming and how to prevent it, amongst parents, teachers and the children themselves. We need to understand how this happens by learning from those who have experienced it and then work together to combat the significant harm that it represents.

“We live in a time where children have easy access to inappropriate content, which serves to normalise certain behaviours and puts them more at risk of being groomed. We need to find ways to prevent this access and offer advice to parents and caregivers on managing these risks.”

Alison Geale – CEO, Bravehearts

Alison Geale is committed to innovation and collaboration, with a focus on strengthening sector partnerships, and believes that all organisations working together will create a safer world for children. She has been the CEO of Bravehearts since 2019 and is an experienced leadership professional with over 20 years of experience in Australian media. Ensuring children are safe from sexual abuse fuels the everyday work and strategic direction of Bravehearts, which has a relentless commitment to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

“Girls and young women remain one of the most heavily marketed to cohorts. Often the messages they receive reinforce unhealthy stereotypes and aspirations for young girls on many levels, including sex. Young girls are so much more than what they look like, or how sexy they are.

“Advertisers, marketers, social media, and those with influence need to be committed to addressing the imbalance of how girls are portrayed, valued, and marketed to. Adults need to understand the scale and depth of the problem, so we need education for parents, carers, teachers to enable them to skill-up to the level of their children. We can’t just leave the education and protection of girls to themselves.”

“We create barriers to improve in this space through the unhealthy norms displayed and aspired to across digital platforms and social media that sadly have led to increased vulnerability and decreased resilience in young girls. Big tech must act to protect them, it’s their backyard.

“As girls continue to be sold unrealistic and unhealthy benchmarks in their formative years on beauty, health, and sex, the more vulnerable they become to exploitation. The shame and stigma of this crime, which can keep young girls in exploitative situations, needs to be removed. Further, when women share their lived experiences of this crime, it helps provide preventative education which can protect young girls today.”

This International Women’s Day let’s start having the conversations that need to happen. Let’s embrace the innovation and technological change that’s necessary. And let’s all be part of the education that’s needed around this subject to keep girls safe from harm and help them achieve lives of equality and empowerment.

On Saturday, 4th March it will be the World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation. First observed in 2009, the day was designed to raise awareness about the extent of sexual exploitation, and the effects of this crime, which predominantly impacts women and children.

Child sexual exploitation (CSE), especially online, is a rapidly growing issue. Historically a conversation that lingers in the background, too confronting to talk about, it silently destroys thousands of lives each year. But only by acknowledging the issue of CSE and the real scope of its threat can we begin to shift the dial in saving children.

Whilst the online sexual exploitation and abuse of children can occur in many ways, such as grooming, live streaming, consuming child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and sexual extortion (sextortion), the end result is always the same – a traumatised child. The advent of the internet took an already horrific act and magnified it. And with emerging and ever-evolving technologies, perpetrators continue to update their tactics to avoid detection. Although each of these crimes may carry a financial footprint, potentially leading to identifying offenders and victims, images of abuse often remain in circulation and become a repeating source of trauma for victim survivors.

According to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, in 2008 there were 100,000 reports of online child sexual exploitation material (OCSEM). By 2021, this number had grown to 219 million, with nearly 85 million different images, videos and other files of abuse and exploitation of children.

The universal nature of the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) means that it transcends borders and is indiscriminate. Children are harmed regardless of their background, family, socio-economic status, or level of education, although those from low socio-economic backgrounds and countries are most at risk. Their safety is constantly threatened by the relentless offenders of this complex and growing crime.

As an organisation we believe in a world where children can grow up safe from exploitation and sexual abuse. Our mission is to support our partners in the CSE response ecosystem to achieve enhanced detection, reporting and prosecution of OSEC through establishing strong partnerships and supporting the implementation of innovative data collaboration projects. We work with financial crimes teams, law enforcement officers, regulators and data owners in their pursuit of identifying perpetrators and victims of child sexual exploitation facilitated online.

2023 has already seen strides taken towards creating a safer internet, and safer world, for children. The focus on a strong regulatory approach has been adopted globally, with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner paving the way for other regulatory authorities around the world to strengthen their stance on the sexual exploitation of children online. Lawmakers have also been pushed towards focusing on child protection and acknowledging the threat that the online abuse of children poses – Australia’s Online Safety Act 2021, the EU’s new Digital Services Act, and the UK’s proposed Online Safety Bill 2021 emphasise this shift.

Rescuing children from harm requires constant vigilance and partnership across industries. Each child that is saved from abuse and exploitation is critical. In 2021, the Australian Federal Police helped to remove 114 children from harm globally – 42% of these children were within our own borders.

With constant changes in technology and evolving perpetrator tactics, tracking child sex offenders is becoming more complex. Offenders work in networks, sharing information, content and methodologies with one another in attempts to elude detection. In order to fight against this, we need innovative data solutions that enable those working in the CSE response ecosystem to share information and that can help to enhance the detection, reporting and prosecution of perpetrators.

The sexual exploitation of children is a 21st century networked problem that requires a networked solution.

To stay up to date with the latest news and developments in CSE response, sign up for our newsletter using the form below.

And if you’re engaged in the fight against child sexual exploitation, why not join our Member Portal and connect with others who are doing the same? You can register here.