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*Warning: This article discusses child sexual abuse
Rhiannon was 13 when a man posing as a female model contacted her online. They traded pictures, eventually the “model” asked for a topless picture.
“She said I was really pretty, and I could be a model like her,” she said.
“I didn’t want to do it at first but she spent ages telling me that it was fine, it was okay, it was no big deal, everyone does it.”
Rhiannon eventually agreed.
“And then everything changed.”
The child sexual offender asked her to do more and more explicit acts and then used the pictures to blackmail her into meeting.
“He sexually assaulted me at home and he took pictures of everything,” Rhiannon said.
“I was too terrified to do or to say anything.”
Rhiannon has no idea how far these images were circulated. But she says just knowing the pictures are out there, is just as bad as the child sexual abuse itself.
In the ten years since Rhiannon was coerced, then blackmailed, the volume of child sexual abuse material on the internet has increased.
During the past 12 months alone, there has been a 70 per cent increase in CSAM material detected by Australia’s Office of the eSafety Commissioner, a government agency promoting online safety. Experts say this trend has been observed globally during the pandemic, when more people are at home.
The UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Child Protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, calls it “one of the greatest threats to society and one of the greatest policing challenges, certainly that we are facing.”
“The latest statistics show that UK police are arresting over 700 men every month, safeguarding 900 children but the number of jobs continue to grow and grow and grow,” Chief Constable Simon Bailey said.
In the last 12 months, there has been a 70 per cent increase in CSAM material detected by Australia’s Office of the eSafety Commissioner. Source: Dateline
Civilian support
One of the biggest CSAM monitoring bodies in the world is UK based charity, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). They have an army of image analysts identifying and removing illegal content, both domestically and abroad.
Their work shows how Rhiannon’s experience, and the proliferation of CSAM, is all too common.
“On a daily basis, we pretty much see all levels of child sexual abuse. From a child 13-year-old, just sitting in their bedroom, showing themselves to a camera, right up to babies being raped and tortured,” said Paul*, an analyst with the IWF.
In 2020 almost half the child abuse imagery found by the , 81 per cent of that was young girls between 11-13 years old.
Experts say this means online predators are regularly coercing and blackmailing children into creating sexually explicit content.
Young girls are the target
Viewing child sexual abuse images is not victimless and that’s something former CSAM addict Rob* has had to come to terms with.
“I've had to take on board that I facilitated ongoing child abuse because of the looking and the sharing of these images.”
Rob* was arrested with hundreds of illegal images in his possession. He says, “when it comes to internet pornography, there is a detachment, and you don't believe it is reality.”
Stopping people viewing CSAM is stopping child abuse
Donald Findlater is the director of Stop It Now!, a free confidential helpline designed to help people concerned by their sexual behaviours. During the pandemic, Donald said their call load increased by almost 50 per cent.
He says the majority of people viewing CSAM started with a legal pornography habit.
“They've gone down this rabbit hole of interest … and they'll be mortified by what they've seen, but some of them unfortunately will get fascinated by that.”
The Stop It Now! program is widely praised internationally by police and child protection advocates alike, but to date, no such service exists in Australia.
The safest internet in the world
In a bid to be the world’s safest place for children to be online, the UK Government is preparing to roll out ground-breaking legislation. The Online Safety Bill, in mid 2021 hopes to hold tech companies responsible for what happens on their platforms.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey says, “you shouldn’t be able to host a site, that hosts that material and say, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Companies need to understand more so than ever, ever before that they have a social and a moral responsibility to protect children and to prevent the abuse of children. And the bottom line is that they are not doing enough.”
*Name changed for anonymity.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at and kidshelpline.com.au.
Anyone seeking information or support relating to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, Blue Knot on 1300 657 380 or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency call 000.
