Alexandria, Virginia, USA – Today, on Safer Internet Day, The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) stands with over 100 organizations, institutions and individuals globally to demand urgent action against nudifying tools—technology designed to create non-consensual nude and abusive imagery, disproportionately targeting children and women.

These tools fuel sexual exploitation, extortion, and harm, yet remain widely accessible with impunity. Together with Child Helpline International, INHOPE, the Internet Watch Foundation, NCMEC, Offlimits, Safe Online, and We Protect Global Alliance, we call for: 

• Global recognition of the irreparable harm these tools inflict. 
• Accountability for tech companies to implement safety-by-design protections.
• Legal bans on development, distribution, and use of nudifying apps and functionalities. 

Together, we’re building a safer world for every child.

Read the full statement and recommendations. 

The post Safer Internet Day Press Release appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

Key players in Finance and Law Enforcement unite to prevent the misuse of payment systems for Online Child Sexual Exploitation

• The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, Freshfields and FTI Consulting have collaborated to bring together their child protection, legal, investigations and financial crime compliance expertise to create a toolkit – the Child Protection Toolkit – that aims to support the global payments industry’s fight against online child sexual exploitation. 

• The Toolkit has been designed in collaboration with, and with the benefit of invaluable support and insights from, banks, money service businesses, electronic payment platforms, law enforcement agencies and regulators around the globe.

• Enforcement and prevention efforts across the industry must aim to keep pace with the growing sophistication and commercialisation of international criminals involved in online child sexual exploitation.

• The Toolkit’s primary goal is to support the financial industry in its efforts to detect, disrupt and deter the use and abuse of the global financial system for online child sexual exploitation.

• The launch of the Toolkit is an important evolutionary step in the ongoing and rapidly evolving fight against online child sexual exploitation. It aims to encourage meaningful change by fostering close, cross-border and cross-sector dialogue and collaboration across the financial industry, recognising that bringing together diverse views and perspectives and unified efforts can result in the greatest impact.  The Toolkit is intended to be a creation that, over time, will be refined through real-life user experience and feedback as market payment systems and technology further evolve.

The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (“ICMEC”), global law firm Freshfields, and crisis and transformation advisory firm FTI Consulting––in collaboration with global financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and regulators around the world––have developed a Child Protection Toolkit to support the financial industry in its efforts to combat online child sexual exploitation facilitated through the international financial system.

The Child Protection Toolkit’s immediate objective is to assist financial institutions—whether global banks, money service businesses, or fintech platforms—in their efforts to detect and prevent money flows that may be connected with online child sexual exploitation.  Successful detection and prevention of illicit money flows, together with related, targeted law enforcement efforts, should make it more difficult for wrongdoers to benefit from their wrongdoing and, over time, deter misconduct.

The Child Protection Toolkit seeks to raise awareness amongst the key players in the market (financial institutions, law enforcers and regulators, amongst others) of online child sexual exploitation, how it arises, how it is commercialised, who the key players are, and the money flows and financial patterns that may be consistent with misconduct, by consolidating key information in one place.

The scale and systemic nature of the problem is stark.  Unlawful activity takes place in a long list of jurisdictions, and no jurisdiction appears to be immune.  In the Philippines alone, for example, a study published in 2023 by the Philippines’ Anti Money Laundering Council suggests that transaction reports related to suspected online child sexual exploitation surged 150-fold between 2018 and 2022, a period that began before the COVID-19 pandemic up to the tail end of that pandemic in 2022.  With the continued rise of digital technologies and virtual assets, the potential for exploitation will only grow—making awareness, unity of purpose, and coordinated action more critical than ever.

Ultimately, financial institutions are critical gateways to, and nodes in, the global financial system.  So, supporting them at the forefront of their efforts to identify and disrupt illicit financial flows is essential to combatting online sexual exploitation of children.  Success, however, depends on strong and consistent collaboration across disciplines and borders.  A close partnership around the world between financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and supporting organisations such as ICMEC, can be a powerful force that hinders the ability of criminals to benefit from such crimes.  The Child Protection Toolkit provides a shared foundation for understanding and action and aims to foster that collaboration and partnership.

While the global community continues to make progress, more can and must be done, and done quickly.  Regulators recognise that money laundering can never be completely prevented and eliminated but expect financial institutions to do everything that they reasonably can towards minimising it.  Every tainted transaction or money flow that is identified, prevented and then reported to law enforcers can potentially make a difference.  Every little bit counts.  One child missing, abused, or exploited is one too many.

We extend our gratitude to the following financial institutions who have provided valuable input during this project and remain valued partners in our efforts towards our common goal: ANZ, Citigroup, Inc, HSBC, Mastercard, PayPal, and Western Union.

We further extend our gratitude to the following law enforcement authorities / regulators who have provided valuable input during the course of this project and remain valued partners in our efforts towards our common goal: AUSTRAC, Australian eSafety Commission, New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, Philippines Anti Money Laundering Council, and Department of Special Investigation, Thailand Ministry of Justice.

Sir Stephen Kavanagh, ICMEC Secretary General, commented:

“The international growth of the finance sector has brought great economic benefits across the world not least by easing the friction involved in international financial transactions.  One unwelcome result has been that the industry has inadvertently made life easier for the perpetrators of international criminal child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation.  The Child Protection Toolkit aims to give financial institutions around the world the knowhow to fight back against this terrible trade that preys on our young people and exploits the international financial sector to do so.

Child protection is a shared and global responsibility, and we are privileged to partner with Freshfields, FTI Consulting, our finance industry and law enforcement partners to together take action to protect children around the world.  We all stand together against this threat. When we accept responsibility, when we cooperate and agree on a collective response, we know children are safer.”

Georgia Dawson, Senior Partner of Freshfields, added:

“It has been a privilege for us to work with ICMEC and FTI Consulting on such an important project.  In today’s complex world, criminals are increasingly sophisticated and innovative in their efforts to evade the law; and financial institutions find themselves at the frontline of efforts to disrupt that.  The Toolkit aims to be an important weapon for good, by bringing together ICMEC and its supporting organisations, financial institutions and law enforcers so that their efforts can be further aligned and focused, and outcomes magnified.  We look forward to further collaborating with ICMEC and FTI Consulting as this project evolves.”

Roy Huang, Senior Managing Director and Head of Asia & Caribbean of FTI Consulting, added:

“We are proud to have collaborated with ICMEC and Freshfields to develop a comprehensive toolkit and a typology-driven data analytics framework.  By leveraging our subject-matter and technical expertise, we are enabling financial institutions to effectively detect and report suspicious activities, ultimately strengthening their ability to combat the misuse of the financial system in the fight against online sexual exploitation of children.

With criminals constantly finding new ways to circumvent controls, the best defence we have is to continue to be engaged, invested and ready to safeguard the most vulnerable members of our community.  The support we have received from our banking and law enforcement partners has been invaluable and a significant resource in the development of this Child Protection Toolkit.”

Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer, added:

“Partnerships are critical to the fight against child sexual exploitation.  Financial institutions play an important role in combating child sexual exploitation for financial gain.  Through the development of profiling and transaction monitoring programs, and working in partnership with law enforcement and government agencies, financial institutions are able to target, identify and stop financial transactions associated with the sexual exploitation of children.

AUSTRAC welcomes the development of the Child Protection Toolkit to help educate financial institutions on how to detect and prevent money flows involved with offending, making it harder for child sexual exploitation to take place.  Child sexual exploitation is a heinous crime against some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and requires global responsibility.”

Matthew M. David, Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat, Philippines, Executive Director added:

“The Philippines continues to demonstrate its strong commitment to combating online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) through comprehensive legislation, coordinated inter-agency efforts, and the use of actionable financial intelligence. As the country’s primary financial intelligence unit, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) plays a crucial role in disrupting the illicit financial flows that enable these crimes. In 2023, the AMLC presented findings from its third study on OSAEC-related suspicious transaction reports during two APAC Financial Coalition Forums organized by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), highlighting emerging typologies and financial trends.[1]

We acknowledge with appreciation that the Child Protection Toolkit—developed by ICMEC, Freshfields, and FTI Consulting—includes the AMLC’s study among its references. This timely and practical resource equips financial institutions with tools to detect and prevent activities related to online child sexual exploitation. The AMLC remains fully committed to supporting initiatives that strengthen the financial sector’s role in protecting children from abuse.”

[1] The AMLC study, “Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children in the Philippines: An Evaluation Using Suspicious Transaction Report Data,” was presented at the APAC Regional Forum on 28 September 2023 and 09 November 2023, each attended by distinct domestic and international audiences.

Milan Gigovic, ANZ Executive and Head of Financial Crime Threat Management, added: 

“ANZ believes trusted partnerships with Government, law enforcement and industry peers are essential to strengthening the integrity of the global financial system and protecting children. No single organisation can tackle this issue alone. By working with trusted networks and sharing intelligence, we can collectively detect and disrupt illicit financial flows and make it harder for criminals to exploit children. 

The Child Protection Toolkit reflects years of shared expertise and collaboration across the financial ecosystem and stands as a powerful testament to what can be achieved when diverse sectors unite around a common goal. More than a resource, it is a catalyst for change – providing clear, actionable guidance that helps financial institutions respond with precision and impact and strengthening our collective ability to protect the most vulnerable through coordinated, community-driven responses.”

Mamta Thadani, Senior Manager, Risk Assessment, Financial Crime, Asia, HSBC, added:    

“Organisations such as the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children facilitate cross-industry information-sharing on criminal typologies specific to each geographical region, including evolving risks related to the trafficking and exploitation of adults and children.  The exploitation of children – as well as all forms of human trafficking – have a devastating impact on its victims, their families and the wider community.  As criminals become increasingly sophisticated in concealing the proceeds of their crimes, we too must become smarter and vigilant in detecting those funds, continue to enhance our understanding of trends and typologies, and work with our customers and law enforcement to tackle this scourge on society.”

 Jared Mullen, New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs Director, Digital Safety, added:

“The Department of Internal Affairs supports the implementation of the Child Protection Toolkit.  This is a positive initiative that helps prevent the proliferation of child sexual exploitation material (“CSEM”) and the revictimisation of children.  Given that a significant amount of CSEM is purchased by offenders, improving the ability of the global financial industry to identify offenders and take action to prevent the sale is a welcome step to reducing victimisation and holding offenders to account.”

Khemachart Prakaihongmanee, Director of Bureau of Technology and Cyber Crime, Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Thailand, added:    

“It has been a great opportunity to collaborate with ICMEC in this project.  Nowadays, we are living in a complex world where the crimes have become more faceted.  It is observed that multi-agency cooperation has become crucial to disrupt the attempts of criminals.  Thus, this toolkit is expected to be a powerful weapon to fight against commercial exploitation of children.  I also would like to assure and continue collaboration with ICMEC for further mutual interest.”

Napol Woraprateep, Child Sexual Exploitation Crime Division, Bureau of Technology and Cyber Crime, Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Thailand, further added:

“It has been an invaluable experience working with ICMEC on this project.  In today’s increasingly complex world, crime has taken on many new forms, making collaboration across multiple agencies more essential than ever to effectively disrupt criminal activity.  This toolkit is anticipated to serve as a strong tool in the fight against the commercial exploitation of children.  I am also committed to continuing our partnership with ICMEC in pursuit of our shared goals.”

Scott Apodaca, Vice President, Global Financial Intelligence, Western Union, added:      

“At Western Union, we believe that combatting crimes against the most vulnerable among us is a shared responsibility.  We are proud to contribute to the ICMEC’s collaborative toolkit  that equips the financial industry with practical insights and actionable resources and solutions.  By working together and sharing information across public and private sectors, we can improve overall outcomes for children around the world.”

The post Launch of Child Protection Toolkit for Financial Institutions appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

• An enhanced global child safeguarding resource for the global school community
• Developed with support from the International Taskforce on Child Protection (ITFCP) and the U.S. State Department Office of Overseas Schools

The new and improved 2025 ICMEC EdPortal is a global safeguarding resource hub designed for the entire school community — educators, students, families, counsellors, board members, safeguarding leaders, and organisations committed to protecting children everywhere.

The EdPortal has been developed and improved with support from the International Taskforce on Child Protection (ITFCP) and the U.S. State Department Office of Overseas Schools. It provides a free global resource of curated tools to help build safer learning environments — at school, at home, and online.

The EdPortal provides smarter search tools, curated resource lists, improved navigation, all International Taskforce on Child Protection (“ITFCP”) content in one place, a moderated Q&A forum and dozens of new, up-to-date tools for child protection across all environments.

Explore the EdPortal here: https://www.icmec.org/edportal/

Debbie Downes, ICMEC Director of Global School Initiatives, commented:

“EdPortal 2.0 is live! We are so thankful for everyone whose input guided this process. The latest version of the EdPortal is just as rich in resources and much easier to navigate. We added dozens of new resources to keep things current. We hope we’ve made it easy for you to find what you need!”

Stephen Kavanagh, ICMEC’s Secretary General, added:

“ICMEC is proud to be part of a global community committed to protecting children and promoting safe, inclusive schools. The new EdPortal helps members of the school community around the world access resources that will help them more effectively safeguard children. The sharing of accessible knowledge is a key way to help educators in this vital area.”

The post ICMEC announces its new and improved global EdPortal appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), a global, nonprofit leader in child protection, and Umanitek AG, a Swiss-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) company combating harmful content and the risks of artificial intelligence, today announce a collaboration in pursuit of better protection of children online and offline using umanitek’s technology and ICMEC’s global network.

Today, many people are concerned about the non-consensual sharing of their personal images or those of their children. The rise of generative AI, while it unlocks significant advancements, also introduces far greater risks, most significantly to our children, such as the potential for easier sharing of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). Given the proliferation of generative AI, individuals’ rights are getting more difficult to protect as algorithms use, replicate, and transform online materials without proper oversight or accountability. It is for this reason that ICMEC and umanitek have agreed to join efforts.

As part of the collaboration, organisations interested in enhanced child protection and law enforcement effectiveness will be able to use umanitek’s AI agent, umanitek Guardian. Guardian enables real-time cross-referencing of any content against a decentralised directory of previously labelled content while ensuring data privacy for all parties involved. It achieves this by giving Guardian agent access to the Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG), a trusted network for organising data that allows participating organisations to retain ownership and control of their data while also allowing collaboration without any risk of compromising privacy.

Umanitek and ICMEC have a shared commitment to work together to fight against harmful content and the risks of AI by developing and deploying technology that serves the greater good of humanity.

Stephen Kavanagh, ICMEC Secretary General, commented:

“Child protection is a shared and global responsibility. Over the last two decades, ICMEC has been committed to empowering the global community with the tools, training, and technology to create a safer world for children. With the internet’s rapid rate of evolution and the increase in reliance on artificial intelligence, we must work together as NGOs, governments, private businesses, and law enforcement to use technology for good and to support efforts like this collaboration of ICMEC with umanitek.”

Chris Rynning, umanitek Chairman, commented:

“The scale of the AI challenge demands urgency and collective action. This is too big to go at it alone. That’s why we’re committed to working with those who share our belief that ethical AI must prioritise public safety. Our collaboration with ICMEC will seek to identify gaps in technology that currently exist and aims to fill these gaps with innovative technologies in an effort to protect children from harm both online and offline. In ICMEC, we have found a partner that is focused on tech-for-good. I’m especially grateful to Stephen Kavanagh and the team at ICMEC. With over 30 years in law enforcement and INTERPOL, Stephen has led global efforts against organized crime, cybercrime, and child exploitation. In the end, it’s the people – dedicated, experienced, and mission-driven – who will make the internet safer for all.”

The post ICMEC and Umanitek collaborate to protect children online and offline appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

More than 30 of the world’s leading child protection experts have called for the sexual exploitation and abuse of children as a global public health emergency.

The initiative, led by the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), envisages a fundamental shift in the global approach to these crimes.

If adopted, it would compel governments to respond to child sexual abuse not merely as a criminal justice issue, but as a preventable pandemic — akin to the worldwide campaigns that successfully tackled smallpox, COVID-19 and tobacco-related deaths.

The proposal was endorsed at a conference in Atlanta, USA, with backing from figures from the World Health Organization, the European Parliament, and leading universities across Scotland, Australia, the United States, China and the Philippines.

It follows a recent estimate from Childlight, hosted by the University of Edinburgh and University of New South Wales, that over 300 million children annually are subjected to technology-facilitated sexual abuse and exploitation alone.

These include cases of grooming and sexual extortion where children are blackmailed over intimate images. Many more are also subjected to contact abuse.

Childlight CEO Paul Stanfield said that, just as immunisation is a more effective strategy than treating the symptoms of disease, the primary objective in addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) must be prevention.

Yet in the UK alone, Home Office research indicates that more than 1,000 times as much public funding is spent on dealing with the consequences of child abuse – after devastating damage to young lives has been done – than on preventing it in the first place.

Stanfield said: “Child sexual exploitation and abuse needs to be treated for what it is: a global public health emergency that occurs in every country, is growing year on year and requires a global response.

“This is a crisis of unimaginable scale yet all too often it remains unseen, unspoken and unprioritized. We cannot continue to respond to this emergency with the tools of the past – treating it as a niche issue for law enforcement or technology alone to manage. That approach has failed and children are paying the price.”

Stephen Kavanagh, ICMEC Secretary General, said: “Working together, collaborating across geographic borders, between different disciplines in law enforcement, education, social work and technology, we can and must fight this public health crisis.

“The children who are the victims are all our futures. We need to learn from how effective public health frameworks, such as responses to COVID, have been in the past. If we can reduce deaths from smoking or globally eradicate smallpox then we can also act decisively to stop child exploitation and abuse.”

The “Atlanta Declaration”, backed by over 30 health experts at the Bridging the Sciences conference, states that all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse constitute “a global public health emergency, compromising the safety, development, and wellbeing of hundreds of millions of children annually”.

It says it is “time to respond with the urgency and coordination this crisis demands — through a prevention-oriented public health approach grounded in empirical evidence and multisectoral collaboration.”

A public health approach has proved effective in multiple complex global health challenges — from the eradication of smallpox and tackling COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS to significant reductions in tobacco use.

It involves global collaboration with analysis of high-quality data to fully understand the scale and nature of the problem, looking at the risk factors and the drivers, evaluating which interventions work. There is then a focus on how those interventions can be scaled up globally with funding to help more children.

This approach has been recognized and endorsed for application to CSEA by institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations, and other international bodies.

The Atlanta Declaration comes nearly 30 years after a World Health Assembly declaration that child sexual abuse is a public health issue. Supporters say that wider support for this approach would save billions in taxpayers money and prevent harm.

Professor Elena Martellozzo, director of Childlight’s European hub in Edinburgh, highlighted multiple examples of promising preventive measures that are helping to tackle CSEA. These ranged from educational programmes for children, parents and carers to laws on internet safety. But she warned that for many governments it was still not a priority.

Supporters of the declaration hope it will act as a springboard, gathering momentum globally and helping persuade governments and other authorities to prioritise prevention measures.

Among the supporters are: Emilio Puccio, Secretary General of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights, Sabine Rakotomalala, a senior technical adviser at the World Health Organization, Dr. Jain, Pediatrician in Chief at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Bernadette Madrid, Clinical Associate Professor of Child Protection Unit, University of the Philippines Manila, and Xiangming Fang, a professor of health economics at China Agricultural University and Georgia State University.

Childlight and ICMEC regard the move as the beginning of a new global push to mobilise evidence-informed, preventative action to safeguard children globally.

ends

The post Global experts call for new approach to protect children from ‘pandemic’ of sexual exploitation and abuse appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

• 25 years of working to stop child abduction, exploitation, and abuse around the world.
• Focus on collaboration, advocacy, innovation to drive positive systemic change.
• We reached over 120 countries, 168,000 students, 155,000 professionals, over 90 financial institutions, technology companies, law enforcement agencies, regulators, civil society actors and academia.
• 2024 was a year of transition with Stephen Kavanagh appointed Secretary General in February 2025

The new 2024 ICMEC Impact Report aims to highlight some key results of our team’s hard work and the vital contribution of our partners and donors. It also signposts areas for growth in 2025 and beyond. With a new Secretary General joining in February 2025 ICMEC’s focus is expanding impact across the world covering the key areas of Technology, Learning, Community and Advocacy.

In 2024 we trained over 2,600 child protection professionals across more than 30 countries, supported governments in building stronger laws, faster alerts, and safer systems, expanded our CSAM (child sexual abuse material) Reporting Portals to 12 countries giving children a path out of harm. ICMEC has released multilingual tools and survivor-informed publications to support healing and justice, supported legal reforms including Colombia’s Alerta Rosa and is a member of Global partnerships such as the ALUNA Project.

The scale of the child safety crisis ICMEC works to address is highlighted in the Impact report. The findings of Childlight, the child safety institute, show there are 10 cases of online child sexual exploitation and abuse reported every second and that 1 in 8 children globally have been subjected to online solicitation in the last 12 months.

ICMEC seeks to make the world safer for children by engaging public and private sector stakeholders in global and local collective action. Together with these partners we build child protection capacity, raise awareness around missing children and child sexual abuse and exploitation issues, return children to safety and disrupt the misuse of commercial platforms to sexually exploit children.

Further examples of our work in 2024 included:

• Global Reach and Capacity Building: ICMEC programmes and training initiatives reached over 155,000 professionals across 120+ countries, equipping law enforcement, educators, healthcare providers, and child protection specialists with critical skills to identify, prevent, and respond to child exploitation.
• Support for Law Enforcement: Through efforts like Operation Renewed Hope II, conducted with ICE Homeland Securities Investigations, the Tim Tebow Foundation, and 47 partner countries, ICMEC helped support the identification and rescue of 36 child victims of online exploitation and generated over 380 investigative leads for ongoing cases.
• Digital Safety Initiatives: ICMEC launched and expanded educational campaigns, including Choose Your Digital Path in partnership with Save the Children Romania, to enhance digital literacy and empower children to make safer choices online.
• Policy and Advocacy Leadership: ICMEC provided expert input on legislative developments, including model laws for age verification to protect minors online, contributing to stronger protections in jurisdictions across the United States and internationally.
• New Tools and Resources: 2024 saw the development and distribution of new safeguarding resources, including enhancements to the ICMEC Learning Platform and ICMEC EdPortal for schools, families, law enforcement, and communities.
• Research and Publications: ICMEC produced a series of in-depth reports, including multisectoral response and capacity assessments, that offer governments and institutions evidence-based recommendations to strengthen national child protection frameworks.

Read the Impact Report here: https://www.icmec.org/annual-report/

Stephen Kavanagh, ICMEC Secretary General, commented:

“Child protection is a shared and global responsibility. Every successful rescue, every new law, every training delivered is based on cooperation with law enforcement, education professionals, non-profits, commercial enterprises, Governments and other partners. We all stand together on this.

Wherever children are, we know that they become more vulnerable when they go missing or are trafficked, and across the world we know children are forced to live in the darkness of sexual exploitation and abuse.

When we stand together against this threat and act to protect children, when we accept responsibility, when we cooperate and share data responsibly we know children are safer. ICMEC has delivered so much in 2024, but we know there is so much more to do in 2025 and the years to come.” 

Sally Paull, Chair of ICMEC’s Board of Directors, added:

“ICMEC is proud to have achieved a great deal over its first 25 years and the challenge is to do more in future, multiplying our impact. We aim to catalyse work in new countries and address new problems. Whether it be legislation that addresses the challenges of young people’s always-on access to smart phones or working with allies in the financial sector we take knowhow from one area and apply it to another. We continue to use our convening power to bring together coalitions to address problems that are too widespread for any one entity to solve. I am proud of the ICMEC team for what they continue to achieve and for their ambition to protect children, wherever they are in the world.”

About the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC)
ICMEC is a non-governmental organisation working to make the world a safer place for all children by defending against child sexual exploitation, abuse, and the risk of going missing. Headquartered in the United States, ICMEC coordinates with partners around the world to develop research, technologies, and educational resources to aid in the search and recovery of children who are missing, fight child sexual exploitation, and empower caring professionals, institutions, and communities to safeguard children from all forms of sexual abuse. For more information please visit www.icmec.org or contact ICMEC at information@icmec.org or +1-703-837-6313. For media enquiries please contact us at media@icmec.org .

The post ICMEC Publishes its 2024 Impact Report appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

• Investigations lead to the discovery and positive identification of 36 victims
• Over 380 investigative leads on additional victims.
• International collaboration led by ICE HSI* in the United States together with 47 other partner countries
• 28 victim identification experts collaborated on the mission from 21 countries

The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) worked with a range of partners on Operation Renewed Hope III, between Feb. 24 and March 7 2025.

The international team together analysed 83,000 files comprised of 216 GB of data containing 100’s of previously seized unidentified images and videos of child sex abuse material. These files were used to identify child victims and their abusers, and the locations where the abuse occurred. 

Analysts then created ‘lead packages’ for the appropriate local investigative partners to enable law enforcement to launch actions to either safeguard or bring perpetrators to justice.

These vital investigative leads were generated through sophisticated investigative techniques targeting offenders who operate via the internet. This included analysing use of forums, websites, email, chat rooms and file-sharing applications. The leads were compared against images of unidentified children and offenders in INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation Database and then shared globally to local law enforcement and investigative partners in 48 countries.

Operation Hope III builds on Operation Hope I in August 2023, Operation Hope II in March 2024 and work in Thailand with the Tim Tebow Foundation in February 2025. The coordination and convening of victim identification events like these is a key role for ICMEC.

The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children worked in partnership with the Tim Tebow Foundation as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

During the event 28 victim identification specialists worked on the team from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

Stephen Kavanagh, ICMEC Secretary General, made the following comments about the results of Operation Renewed Hope III:

“This International Operation pulled together several strategically important strands of what we do at ICMEC. The effort was a joint one, that reached across international boundaries. Together the international team supported local law enforcement, contributing what each of us can do best. We learned from each other to be more effective. Above all we showed that we make a greater impact and protect more children when we work together.

Our mission and the challenge for us all is to simply not accept the injustices perpetrated against children around the world.

This experience has redoubled our determination to build on our common experience to better combat child exploitation, and promote justice with determination, passion and expertise.”

*ICE HSI is an abbreviation for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations

The post ICMEC Proud to Support Operation Renewed Hope III appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

ICMEC is proud to announce the appointment of Stephen Kavanagh as its new Secretary General, effective February 10, 2025. With over 30 years of experience in law enforcement across the UK and as the Executive Director of Police Services for INTERPOL, Lyon, France, he has led numerous international initiatives targeting organized criminality, cyber-crime, crimes against children and human trafficking.

Whilst Mr. Kavanagh will be based in the United Kingdom, he will be leading our team in Washington and across the world to expand ICMEC’s global reach, impact and effectiveness, through stronger partnerships, analysis and operations focusing on vulnerable children worldwide.

“Stephen’s frontline experience, strategic leadership, and international recognition make him the ideal choice to drive ICMEC’s mission forward”, said Sally Paull, Chair of ICMEC’s Board of Directors. “His determination, passion and expertise in fighting harms against children will be invaluable as he and the team at ICMEC build on our 25-year legacy of combating child exploitation.”

To support a seamless transition, Travis Heneveld, who has been acting as the Interim CEO, will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer, working closely with Kavanagh to ensure continuity in ICMEC’s critical partnerships and programs.

Mr. Kavanagh’s appointment signals a bold new chapter for ICMEC, reinforcing its commitment to global child protection and justice.

The post New ICMEC Secretary General Announcement appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

CSI’s position paper Device-Based Age Verification to Protect Children and Vulnerable Adults Online through Mandating the Default Activation of Parental Controls on Tech Device strongly advocates for the immediate adoption of device-based age verification. ICMEC’s Model Bill for Protecting Children Online provides the building blocks of legislation to this end that can be adapted to any legislative context. Both publications outline the key issues associated with online child safety, including the consequences of unrestricted access, and the adoption of age verification instead of app-by-app and website-by-website verification as a protective measure. Both also acknowledge the important work underway by policymakers globally and legislative changes under consideration in many countries to strengthen the online protection of children.

“As a non-partisan, global nonprofit committed to advancing child protection and safeguarding vulnerable children around the world, ICMEC calls on governments, regulators, policymakers, legislators and technology companies to work together to establish clear guidelines and global standards for device-based age verification” stated Travis Heneveld, Interim CEO at ICMEC.

Deputy CEO of Crime Stoppers International Hayley van Loon noted, “Over 400 million websites operate without safety mechanisms to manage harmful content such as child sexual abuse material. Device-based age verification can leverage biometric authentication and secure hardware already embedded in cell phones, laptops, tablets, gaming consoles, and other devices to provide a high level of accuracy that surpasses traditional methods like self-reported birthdates, which are highly susceptible to misrepresentation and circumvention.”

For more information about ICMEC reports and initiatives, please visit www.icmec.org or contact ICMEC at information@icmec.org or +1-703-837-6313. To discover more about ICMEC’s impactful approach and the child protection innovations that ICMEC is driving, visit ICMEC’s CSAM Model Legislation page. 

The post International Non-profits call for mandatory device-based age verification appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

ICMEC’s A Model Framework for Employers of Content Moderators: The First Line of Defense in Online Child Protection is designed to minimize the risks of secondary trauma from repeated exposure to distressing content. The Model Framework provides a clear, practical approach for employers to implement trauma-informed policies. It both protects employees and improves the overall effectiveness of content moderation.

Globally, approximately 100,000 content moderators work for social media giants like Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, often through third-party contracting firms. Studies show that up to 50% of content moderators experience mental health issues due to frequent exposure to harmful content and that up to 80% of moderators leave the job within the first two years. ICMEC’s Model Framework, which was developed in collaboration with market-leading digital service providers and trade associations, represents a significant step forward in improving conditions for this vital yet often overlooked group of workers in the digital age.

“ICMEC recognizes the immense mental health challenges content moderators face, especially when working with highly sensitive material,” said Bindu Sharma, ICMEC Vice President Global Policy & Industry Alliances. “This Model Framework establishes a new benchmark that guides best practices and fosters consistency and clarity.”

The Model Framework, which spans the moderator’s entire employment cycle from hiring and retention through to post-employment, emphasizes the importance of comprehensive training, a safe and supportive work environment, and a strong commitment to prioritizing mental health. Effective content moderation is an increasingly critical success factor in helping online platforms protect their users from potential abuse. Organizations that adopt ICMEC’s best practices can reduce burnout, build resilience, and help ensure the success of their content moderation efforts while minimizing legal risks.

For more information about ICMEC reports and initiatives, please visit www.icmec.org or contact ICMEC at information@icmec.org or +1-703-837-6313. To discover more about ICMEC’s impactful approach and the child protection innovations that ICMEC is driving, visit ICMEC’s CSAM Model Legislation page. 

The post ICMEC Creates Framework to Protect Human Social Media Content Moderators from Psychological Harm appeared first on International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.