IJM's Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children

NOS reports a case of two Dutch men on trial for watching the sexual abuse of young Filipino children via livestream. Handling public prosecutor Linda van den Oever highlights the global scale and increasing prevalence of livestreamed child sexual abuse: "The customer in a Western country pays for the abuse of a child on the other side of the world. Unfortunately, we have seen this happening more and more since the corona pandemic. Not only in the Netherlands, but all over the world. We are increasingly encountering images that originate from livestream moments." IJM’s Scale of Harm Study found nearly half a million Filipino children were trafficked to produce sexual exploitation material for profit in 2022 alone. The Study also lists recommendations to combat this crime, including holding demand-side offenders accountable and requiring tech and financial sector companies to detect, report, or disrupt such crimes happening on their platforms and services. https://lnkd.in/eYCqXPuB

In 2022 alone, nearly half a million Filipino children were trafficked to produce sexual exploitation material for profit—according to findings from IJM's Scale of Harm Study. "Addressing this issue in the Philippines is really just one side of the problem. This issue is an issue of supply and demand. We really need a global response to end this crime." Atty. Samson Inocencio told CNN's Freedom Project. IJM calls for sustained and strengthened action to combat online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines and beyond. https://lnkd.in/gwuww2Un

"Addressing this issue in the Philippines is really just one side of the problem. This issue is an issue of supply and demand. We really need a global response to end this crime." - IJM's Samson Inocencio told CNN’s Freedom Project. Keep an eye out as you might see his familiar face on your evening news. 📺 Or click now to hear about the positive effects of IJM's Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children anti-trafficking program in the Philippines: https://lnkd.in/gpAne2-F

The World Health Organization, UNICEF, and its partners report that one billion boys and girls are victims of violence each year. This alarming statistic on violence against children, amongst many uncovered by the cohort, presents both a significant challenge and an urgent call to action. IJM stands with partners globally in calling on world leaders to participate and pledge actions to keep every child safe from both offline and online violence. More: https://lnkd.in/gW74SvWz

On August 7-8, 2024, IJM presented at the ASEAN Conference on the Prevention and Response to the Misuse of Financial Service Providers in Child Sexual Exploitation, hosted by the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Republic of Indonesia, ECPAT Indonesia, and Association of Criminal Law and Criminology Lecturer (ASPERHUPIKI). Attys. Erin Canino and Raena Asistores Pabiona discussed the crime of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) as experienced in the Philippines, including the regulatory and legal framework. Their paper, The Business of OSEC in the Philippines: The Evolving Finance Industry and The Responsibility of the Finance Sector, won the distinction of ‘Best Paper’. Atty. Lawrence Aritao and two survivor leaders Crystal* and Patricia* (pseudonyms) elaborated on how financial services can disrupt OSEC by stopping payments from offenders to facilitators and sending actionable intelligence to regulators and law enforcement.

‘The reality is that 1 in every 2 children experience violence worldwide’, reported by World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and its partners. This urgency aligns with IJM’s #ScaleofHarm Study, finding nearly half a million Filipino children were trafficked to produce sexual exploitation material for profit in 2022 alone. WHO, UNICEF, and partners will be hosting the first-ever global youth-led movement on child violence prevention, Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, this November. IJM and a survivor leader from the Philippine Survivor Network will support a satellite event with Brave Movement and other partners. The Global Ministerial will convene global leaders, policymakers, survivors, youth, and activists to address violence against children—both offline and online violence. More: https://lnkd.in/dg9Btwjy https://lnkd.in/g_wn29aX

To combat online scamming, Meta has recently removed 63,000 accounts involved in sextortion scams on Instagram. IJM has supported these efforts by training law enforcement in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire to respond to reports of scamming. “Project Boost” is a collaboration between IJM, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Meta, with additional support from INTERPOL, the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (DOJ-CEOS) and others. We applaud the effort of partners to strengthen global and local efforts to fight criminals exploiting children and scamming victims worldwide. Read: https://lnkd.in/erZhnUf7

This August 7-8 2024, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Republic of Indonesia, ECPAT Indonesia, and Association of Criminal Law and Criminology Lecturer (ASPERHUPIKI) will host “The Prevention and Response to the Misuse of Financial Service Providers in Child Sexual Exploitation”. With the support of IJM’s Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children, it is the first ASEAN Conference tackling the misuse of financial service providers in sexual exploitation crimes. Seats are still available for self-funded participants. If interested, please email sufasececpatconference@gmail.com. Let’s work together to combat the sexual exploitation of children.

‘Things I wish every parent and executive knew about keeping kids safe online’, IJM's John Tanagho talks about how safeguarding children online requires a collective effort from parents, governments, law enforcement, and tech executives in his recent Fast Company article. Read on: https://ow.ly/3XL950SCGyu #FightToTheFinish #ProtectKidsOnline #UntilAllAreFree

Just as “it takes a village to raise a child,” safeguarding children online requires a collective effort from parents, governments, law enforcement, and tech executives. https://lnkd.in/gW2HxQDY Written by John Tanagho of International Justice Mission