@ECPAT International is a global network of civil society organisations working together forthe elimination of child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children forsexual purposes. It seeks to ensure that children everywhere enjoy their fundamental rights
free and secure from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation.

September, 2014
Copyright © ECPAT International 2014
This publication was made possible due to the generous support of Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
Written by : Biva Rajbhandari, ECPAT International Child and Youth Participation Programme.
Additional Credits: Marie-Laure Lemineur, Junita Upadhyay, Mark Capaldi, Anjan Bose, Mariana
Yevsyukova, Valentina Vitali, Supriya Kasaju and members of the ECPAT International Child and Youth
Advisory Committee (EICYAC)
Edited by: Stephanie Delaney, John Carr
Design by: Manida Naebklang

ECPAT International

328/1 Phayathai Road, Ratchathewi
Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 215 3388, + 66 2 611 0972
Fax: +66 2 215 8272
Email: info@ecpat.net, media@ecpat.net
Website: www.ecpat.net
ISBN: 978-616-92126-1-4

CONTENT

03

USEFUL INFORMATION

12WHO SEXUALLY ABUSES AND
EXPLOITS CHILDREN ONLINE?

04

WHAT IS CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE(CSA)?

14

WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF ONLINESEXUAL EXPLOITATION?

05

WHAT IS THE COMMERCIALSEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF
CHILDREN (CSEC)?

06

WHAT ARE OTHER FORMS OFSEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF
CHILDREN, SOME OF WHICH
MIGHT BECOMECOMMERCIALISED?

08

WHAT IS ONLINE CHILDSEXUAL EXPLOITATION?

10WHERE DOES ONLINE SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION HAPPEN AND HOW
MIGHT IMAGES OF IT BE DISTRIBUTED?

26-27

17
20

WHAT HARM IS DONE
TO CHILDREN?

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

23

WHAT CAN CHILDREN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE DO TO HELPIN COMBATING ONLINE CHILDSEXUAL EXPLOITATION?

25

TIPS ON HOW TO STAY SAFE ONLINEORGANISATIONS WORKING TO END ONLINE SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN

2

The Guide has been written to tell children and young people about
sexual exploitation online. We hope you will find it interesting anduseful. If you want to know more about this issue or get advice or help
after reading the guide, you can find the addresses of organisations
working to end all forms of the sexual exploitation of children online
on pages 26-27.

ECPAT INTERNATIONAL
ECPAT stands for
END CHILD PROSTITUTION,
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND
TRAFFICKING IN CHILDRENFOR SEXUAL PURPOSES.

ECPAT International is a network of 80
member organisations in 74 countries
working to end the commercial sexual
exploitation of children and young
people.

CHILDREN AND YOUNGPEOPLEIn this guide we use the term ‘children and young
people’ and ‘child and young person’ to describe
anyone aged under 18 years old. We also sometimes
just use the word ‘child, ‘children’ or ‘youth’ to mean
anyone under 18 years old.

ABUSER, OFFENDER OR EXPLOITER
In this guide we use the terms abuser, offender and exploiter to mean the same thing:someone who sexually abuses a child.

3

WHAT IS CHILD SEXUAL
ABUSE (CSA)?

4

Child care professionals often use the term “child sexual
abuse”. Child sexual abuse happens when an adult or ayoung person involves another child in sexual activity
that he or she does not fully understand, or is unable togive informed consent to, or for which he or she is notready for (perhaps because of his or her age or level ofdevelopment). Child sexual abuse is intended to satisfy
the needs of the abuser, not the child that is being abused.
Child sexual abuse includes, but is not limited to, rape,
touching genitals or sexual intercourse with a child. It also consists of non-physical contact
such as involving children in watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave insexually explicit ways and exposing them to inappropriate sexual materials.

What about youth who are the age of sexual consent in theircountry and engage in sexual relations with adults? Don’t
they have the right to choose?
In some countries youth can agree to have sex when they are younger than 18 years
old if they have reached the legal age of sexual consent. Some young people are
therefore engaged in sexual relationships with adults. However, if the adult records
sexual videos or pictures of the young person and sells it to others, then the youth isbeing exploited by the adult even if the young person has agreed.
To protect all children it is important that no children are exploited. Even if somechildren and young people say they agreed to have sexual relations or be abused,their consent is irrelevant and the abuse is considered a crime.

WHAT IS THE COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
OF CHILDREN (CSEC)?
Commercial sexual exploitation happens when someone, usually an adult (but it can also
be another young person) takes advantage sexually of a child and someone benefits fromit because a payment is made (either with money or through gifts, favours or services).
Often, where such a payment is made, it will not go directly to the child or young person
who is being abused, but it is instead given to someone else who has power over the child.
Since the child or young person is being taken advantage of in this way, we say he or she
has been ‘exploited’, and because the abuser is giving money or something else of value,
this is a form of commercial transaction. For these reasons, the correct way of describing
what has happened when a child or young person is sexually abused or taken advantage
of by others for gain is to say the child has been ‘commercially sexually exploited’. Thiskind of abuse can happen online, for example through the use of several different types of
information and communications technology (ICT) devices.
Some examples of extreme forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children
occurred in 2013/2104 when it emergedthat a number of parents in the Philippines
had arranged for their children to be sexually abused online in front of webcams.
To be able to watch the abuse, the viewers
had to make a payment, all or part of which
ended up in the pockets of the parents orintermediaries.

5

WHAT ARE OTHER FORMS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
OF CHILDREN, SOME OF WHICH MIGHT BECOMECOMMERCIALISED?

6

Most cases of sexual abuse of children take place within the family or existing social circles
and are committed by people whom children and young people know and trust. Sometimes
the offenders can take pictures of the abuse with no intention of selling or exchanging themfor gain, but they might change their minds and the images can be used for commercial
purposes. This illustrates how, whatever the circumstances, the creation of sexualised imagesof children is an enormous evil which poses a great threat to their current and future welfare.

What is cyber bullying?
Cyber bullying is when a peer uses electronic communication tosend intimidating messages to another peer.

Many children or young people create sexualised images of themselves, entirely voluntarily,
seemingly without any coercion. This is known as sexting.
Typically, these images are illegal and in many cases have led to the young person being
prosecuted. Often the images are created by the child or young person to send themto his or her girlfriend or boyfriend, but sometime later, usually when the relationshipends, the images can find their way into other people’s hands. And finally they will getout on to the Internet where they are likely to be picked up and collected by paedophiles
who might trade or sell them. This takes us back to the point made earlier: whatever thecircumstances, the creation of sexualised images of children poses a great threat to thechild’s current and future welfare.
Some children are bullied or coerced into producing sexualised images of themselves orthey are asked to perform sexual acts against the threat of the images being more widelydistributed, for example among school friends or family. Often this sort of behaviour isreferred to as sextortion.

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WHAT IS ONLINE CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION?
There are various ways children and young people canbe abused and exploited online. This guide focuseson commercial sexual exploitation online. Examplesof this include when a person takes sexualised photosof a child to sell them online, or when a person buys
online videos of children being abused.

8

As already noted, the offender could be someone who
knows the child but that is not always the case. The
abuser may live a long way away, possibly even in adifferent country. The Internet allows abusers to makecontact with the child and also enables them to carryout the abuse online.
An offender might seek to manipulate a child into
engaging in unlawful sexual activity by winning his
or her trust and friendship. This is known as grooming. Grooming is when an adult getsto know a child by befriending, encouraging or tricking him or her in order to become
involved in a sexual act or relationship. There have been many cases of grooming where
the relationship has begun on the Internet. In many countries it is a criminal offence for an
adult to groom a child, but grooming can also happen between children and other young
people.
As part of the grooming process, offenders might also persuade a child to watch children
involved in sex or look at child sexual abuse materials to convince him or her that this isnormal.

After gaining the trust of the child, an offender might force him or her into an exploitative
situation. This means the offender will give money, presents, food or special favours tosexually exploit the child or watch a child online being exploited by another person.
If the child refuses to be exploited then the offender might verbally or sexually harass or
threaten him or her in some other way, such as hurting his or her family.

Why do we prefer to say ‘child sexual abuse materials’ rather
than ‘child pornography’?
Child sexual abuse materials can be text, pictures, sounds or videos of a childengaged in sexual activities, images of sexual parts of a child or images of a fakechild that looks like a real one (e.g. images generated by computer programme).
We use the term ‘materials’ because this is broader than just pornography andincludes text, audio, video, pictures and even cartoon-like images of children.
We also use child sexual abuse material because the term ‘pornography’ may givethe impression that children agree to participate in the serious abuses shown.

9

WHERE DOES ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
HAPPEN AND HOW MIGHT IMAGES OF IT BE
DISTRIBUTED?
Online sexual exploitation can take place
anywhere, but it usually occurs somewhere that is familiar to the young person.
A familiar setting could be a child’s home,a family member’s house, or a neighbourhood cybercafe.
10@Children and youth are exploited in theprivacy of their homes. Chat rooms, peerto-peer networks and social media areused by offenders to try and gain access tothem and distribute sexual abuse materials.
Online sexual exploitation can also occur ifchildren are taken from the place they live
to another place or when sexual exploiters travel with the intention of having sex withyoung people in another country or another city within the same country. In these cases
the children are abused, and images of the abuse are shared online through the use oftechnologies such as phones or other mobile devices.

What is a peer-to-peer network? (P-2-P)
A peer-to-peer network is a system of personal computers that can
exchange files directly with every other computer in the network.

IN REAL LIFE:
C and D are young people in a relationship. C sends D picturesof herself naked and trusts that D will not share them. However,
one day C comes across these pictures online and realisesthat D has been selling the pictures to other people.

What should C do?

Taking Action-Example from Southeast Asia
ECPAT Philippines worked with Sali ka Bata, a community mobile
theatre advocacy group made up of children and youth. Theiridea was to raise awareness about the different forms of CSEC
such as online sexual exploitation and to empower young people so that they are
better skilled to avoid such situations.
Members of the theatre group performed in vulnerable communities, held
discussions and led workshops. They also created an action plan to fight against
CSEC, and distributed awareness raising materials so that people were better
informed about CSEC.

11

WHO SEXUALLY ABUSES AND EXPLOITS CHILDRENONLINE?
A common but wrong idea about online child sexual exploiters is that they are old, lonely
men. This is not always true. Online sexual offenders can be women and other young people
but typically they are adult men of all ages and professions. They come from various social
classes, ethnicities and religions. They might have families, be one of the exploited child’s
family members, or be strangers.

12

Sexual exploiters often claim to be someone else on the Internet. For example, they might
pretend to be a child’s friend to convince the child to send revealing pictures or videos. The
offender will then exploit the child by distributing the pictures and videos on the Internet
for other people to buy and see.
Sometimes people who produce and distribute online sexual abuse materials are part ofan organised crime gang. Organised gangs are very dangerous and are usually involved inother criminal activities.
Some online child sexual exploiters play a role in producing sexual abusive materials whileothers take pleasure in viewing materials as they download. To collect and possess sexualabusive materials is a crime in many countries.

Taking Action-Example from North America
Beyond Borders ECPAT Canada hosted educational events about
how children can stay safe online. Speakers having experience
with victims of cyber bullying gave presentations. High school anduniversity students were able to attend and reported that they wanted to share theinformation with their peers. One idea of doing so, is for youth to organise an eventin school to encourage friends to join the campaign in staying safe online and offline.

IN REAL LIFE:
Mr.P is a fisherman from a small village in Southeast Asia. A few
months of the year are off-season for Mr.P so he has to earn extra
money for his family. Mr.P and his wife hear that they can earnmoney by taking pictures of their 10 year old daughter and 5 year
old son in sexualised poses and putting these on the Internet.
Mr.P and his wife think that since the pictures were taken in a
private setting like their home it would not cause any harm. They
believe that the pictures would only be viewed by a few people
who pay them money in return. Since their children are notgetting physically hurt, Mr.P and his wife think it must be OK.
How might Mr.P and his wife’s actions hurt their children in the
future?

13

WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF ONLINE SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION?

14

All children and young people regardless of theirbackground or where they live can be at risk of
online sexual exploitation. However, living in avulnerable environment such as being very poor,or being abused or feeling lonely and having low
self-esteem, can put children at more risk of sexual
exploitation.
Sometimes victims of online sexual exploitation are young people who have access totechnologies themselves or know others who have access to it and photograph or videotape
them. However, keep in mind that children do not need access to the Internet or mobile phones
to become victims. Many are approached by their exploiters offline and then, technologies
are used in the process of exploitation at a later stage.

What about youth who seek sexual relationships with adults,
online and offline, by selling or sharing their own images andvideos?
Some young people think that engaging in such activities is normal for different
reasons. In some cases, it might be the influence from the media or friends that makeyoung people believe it is normal to publicly share such pictures. Young people may
also be curious about intimacy and romance or want to learn about relationships andsex.
Other reasons for youth to engage with adults online can be that it makes them feel‘grown up’. The protection of a computer screen can make them believe they are‘safe’. However, it is easy to forget that adults often manipulate children.
Everyone makes mistakes and any young person or child who feels unsafe, online
or offline, should tell someone they trust. This may be embarrassing, or the young
person might worry that people will think it is his or her fault, but it is better to feel
protected than try to cope alone.

15

IN REAL LIFE:

16

F is 15 years old and lives in a crowded orphanage with little
supervision from her carers. One day, while on the Internet, shecomes across fliers that advertise modeling careers. F wants tomake money so she signs up for the modeling agency and begins
posting revealing pictures of herself. F feels like a grown up
because other adults appreciate her picture and pay her to send
more.

What would you do if you were F and saw the fliers? What would
you do if you started selling your pictures and then realised you
made a mistake?

WHAT HARM IS DONE TO CHILDREN?
Children and young people who experience online sexual exploitation can suffer physical,
mental and emotional trauma such as depression, low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
This can leave them with long-term problems. Children and young people may find it difficult
to trust others and may have nightmares. They may also isolate themselves because they
feel that the images hide the abuse they experienced as they are sometimes made to look
like willing participants.
Children may also feel shame andhumiliation at the thought of being
recognised and fear that this will
never go away. Indeed, it is difficult
to remove images and videos online
as these materials spread quickly
and all over the world. The thoughtof people still having access to theirimages and videos over and overagain, even when they become
adults, might be a heavy burden
for the victims.

17

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Taking Action—Example from Africa
In January 2013, ECPAT International collaborated with membershiporganisations in Africa to conduct a youth-led study on the usage
of ICTs.
Here are some facts that were found:• Almost 82% of children in Gambia access the Internet at a cybercafe.
• In Uganda, over 50% of children said they saw children their age or younger insexual abuse materials.
18• Around 85% of children in Togo exchange files through Bluetooth and MMS.
• Over 50% of children have seen sexual abuse materials on the Internet in Kenya.
• In Cameroon, only 20% of children said their school had events that talked about
Internet safety.
For more information access the report at: http://bit.ly/1fQQKnk

IN REAL LIFE:
K is 13 years old and her 23 year old brother’s friend
likes to come over often and spend time with K. One
day he shows K videos of adults having sex with children
and explains that this is normal in a relationship. K
believes him and begins to watch the videos regularly.
K’s brother’s friend agrees to buy her a new phone if she
has sex with him.
What do you think K should do next?

19

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
There are different kinds of laws, including internationaland regional treaties and national legal acts.

20International laws are normally made up of agreements
between many countries and set certain standards
for national laws and policies. The most importantinternational agreement regarding child sexual
exploitation online is the Optional Protocol to the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Saleof Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography(OPSC). It says that children and young people should
be protected from all kinds of sexual exploitation,
including the production, the possession, the accessto and the distribution of child pornography.
There are also a number of regional legal agreements. In Europe, the most important are
the Council of Europe Conventions on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention), on the Protectionof Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention) and theEuropean Union Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children
and child pornography. These laws make producing, distributing and possessing online sexual
abuse material a crime and state that offenders should be punished.

Taking Action-Example from Europe
ECPAT groups in UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium
started a ‘make-IT-safe’ campaign that enhanced the knowledge ofyouth on safe and responsible use of the Internet and new technology.
Young people were trained to be “experts” on online safety like adjusting Facebook
security settings. They then helped and supported other peers in being safe online.

The Lanzarote Convention is the first international treaty to prohibit cyber grooming. The
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which is signed by most African countries,
also mentions that children should not be used in pornographic activities, performances,and materials. An African Convention on Cybercrime has been adopted in 2014 criminalisingchild abuse materials.
Each country has its own national (sometimes called ‘domestic’) laws. Once a country has
signed and ratified an international agreement, it is then supposed to adapt its national laws
to meet the international standards set up in the signed agreement. Even though there arenational laws meant to protect children and young people, they are not always protected
in reality as expected. Some countries have domestic laws that address online sexual abuse
while others are still slow to update their laws. Other times, the law is in place but no action
is taken.

IN REAL LIFE:
Mrs R is a science teacher. She buys and collects child sexual
abuse material from the Internet and views it for her pleasure.
Mrs R believes that the police cannot catch her because she
has not shared any personal information on the Internet. One
day, the police appeared at Mrs R’s house and arrested her forpossession of child sexual abuse materials. The police havetraced her computer. Possessing such material is a serious
crime.

21

The Internet’s global connection also makes it difficult to track down people who haveproduced or accessed materials and countries have to work together to exchange
information so offenders can be caught and victims identified and rescued. In somecountries there are special protection and police units that children
can turn to for help and guidance. Unfortunately, there
are not enough trained police or professionals
to investigate and track down every offenderor victim. In some cases, exploiters who arecaught might pay ‘compensation’ to the childor young person or their family to avoid action
being taken.
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WHAT CAN CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE DO
TO HELP IN COMBATING ONLINE CHILD SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION?
SPEAKING OUT
If you think a child is being cyber bullied, groomed or
exploited online, please tell someone. Depending on
the situation, this might mean talking to an adult you
trust, or going to the police or child protection services.
If you are not sure about the best thing to do, contacta child helpline or one of the other organisations on
pages 26-27 and ask for their advice.

TALKING TO YOUR
PARENTS OR
GUARDIANS
To stay safe online
and avoid sexual
abuse materials,
you can talk to yourparents or guardians
about blocking
websites displaying
child abuse images orvideos.

SPREADING THE WORD
Talk to your friends and family about what you have readin this guide, and raise awareness about the problem of
online sexual exploitation. Warn your friends about thepossible risks related to job offers, promises of attractivemodelling careers or family or friends taking pictures orvideos that are too revealing even if it is in the privacyof a familiar setting.

23

TAKING ACTION

24

There are lots of actions that children and young people can take to help combat
online abuse. Examples include:Ü finding out if there is child hotline / helpline or somewhere to report online
abuse in your country, and if not, writing letters and working with organisations
to get one started;Ü talking to a teacher or principal in your school about inviting people to present
on how to stay safe online;Ü telling your parents/guardians about ways to make a safer use of the Internet
or mobile phone, or asking them what advice they can give you on Internet
safety.
Another idea is to celebrate the Safer Internet Day by distributing awareness materials
or simply talking to your peers about how to use technologies and social media in asafer way. If you access the Internet in public places such as cybercafe, try to find out
what the manager/owner knows on this issue and what safeguards are put in place
for children.

Safer Internet Day
Safer Internet Day was started by INSAFE, a European networkof awareness centres that promotes the safe and responsible
use of the Internet and mobile devices by children and young
people. The day aims to advocate for safe and responsible use of Internet bychildren and young people through public events and sharing ideas and information.
Safer Internet Day is celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide and every
year INSAFE chooses a new emerging issue as a theme. Safer Internet Day takes
place every year in the second week of February.
For more information visit www.saferinternetday.org

TIPS ON HOW TO STAY SAFE ONLINE
BE CAREFUL AND THINK TWICE:
When talking to someone you just met online, think twice before
sharing your home address, telephone number or school’s nameor other personal information. Be careful when sending yourpicture, credit card or bank details to someone you don’t know orjust met.

LEARN TO SAY NO:
Remember you can say NO or choose to leave a chat room if someone
says or writes something which makes you feel uncomfortable orworried.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO TELL SOME ONE:If you have agreed to send a sexualised or revealing picture or video
and you regret it or are scared, talk to a trusted person. If you thinkthat someone is taking pictures or videos of you without yourconsent, tell someone you trust. Details of organisations you cancontact if you would prefer not to speak to someone you know canbe found on pages 26-27.

POSTING IS FOREVER:
Before you post or upload anything, remember that what is postedon the Internet is permanent, widespread, and hard to delete.

SET PRIVACY ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA:
Check the privacy settings on your social media and chat roomaccounts regularly and always make use of them to control who canchat with you or share your pictures and videos.

Adapted from: Childnet International, www.childnet.com

25
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SMS

ORGANISATIONS WORKING TO END ONLINE SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
There are many organisations working to end online sexual exploitation of children andyoung people. Here are some of the largest, working globally. You can contact them for
more information or to find details about local organisations in your area:

GLOBAL ORGANISATIONS WHERE CHILDREN CAN REPORT ABUSE
26

INHOPE is an active and collaborative network of hotlines in 45 countries
worldwide, dealing with illegal content online and committed to stampingout child sexual abuse from the Internet. INHOPE Hotlines offer the public a
way of anonymously reporting Internet material including child sexual abusematerial they suspect to be illegal. If you found child sexual abuse material
online, please visit the website to find a hotline in your country to report.
(www.inhope.org)
Virtual Global Taskforce is dedicated to investigating online abuse andexploitation. Through the website, children and adults can ‘Report Abuse’with the click of a button. You can report abuse in Australia, Canada,
Italy, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, UAE, UK, and USA.
(www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com)
Child Helpline International establishes helplines all over the world.
If you are a victim or know someone who is being/has been exploited
please visit the website to find a helpline number in your country.
(www.childhelplineinternational.org)

CHILD-FRIENDLY RESOURCES FOR ONLINE SAFETY
The websites below provide resources such as interactive games, tips or advice, andworkshops for children of all ages, teachers/educators, and parents/guardians on staying
safe online:
Organisation

WebsiteECPAT International

www.ecpat.net

ChildNet International

www.childnet.com*Think U Know

www.thinkuknow.com

Digizenwww.digizen.org

Kid Smart

www.kidsmart.org.uk

Stay Smart Online

www.staysmartonline.gov.au

NetSmartz Workshop (USA)www.netsmartz.org*Netsafe

www.netsafe.org.nz*Cyber Kids (ECPAT New Zealand)www.cyberkids.co.nz

European NGO Alliance for Child
Safety Online (eNACSO)

www.enacso.eu* Website also provides a way for reporting online.

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THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS GUIDE. WE HOPE THATIT HAS HELPED YOU TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT THE ONLINE SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO BOTH PROTECTYOURSELF FROM BECOMING A VICTIM AND SUPPORT THE FIGHT TO END IT.

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ECPAT International
328/1 Phayathai Road, Ratchathewi Bangkok 10400 THAILAND
Tel: +66 2 215 3388, +66 2 611 0972
Fax: +66 2 215 8272
Email: info@ecpat.net
Website: www.ecpat.net