Child abuse

POLICING FRIENDSHIP TOUR: An Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe's Budapest Convention on Cybercrime contains important legal tools that will “enhance international co-operation”, according to Virgil Spiridon, Head of Operations at the Council’s Cybercrime Programme Office, who explained the latest developments to Policing Insight Publisher Bernard Rix on a recent leg of the Policing Friendship Tour.

ANALYSIS: Disruption methods are vital in combatting child sexual abuse, with the potential to immediately interrupt contact between a suspect and a child, and help stop further abuse in the longer term; now new research by the UK’s Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse has highlighted the steps that can be taken to improve disruption efforts, as the Centre’s Senior Research and Evaluation Officer Dr Diana Parkinson explains.

INTERVIEW: Cheshire Detective Sergeant Mark Naylor has delivered many powerful presentations on the suffering of sexual abuse victims, but it is not until well into the sessions that he reveals the experiences he is discussing are his own; this award-winning officer spoke to Policing Insight Deputy Editor Sarah Gibbons about the emotional and mental impact of abuse, the need for victims to take back control, and how forces can improve the service they deliver.

FEATURE: The volume and accessibility of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has increased considerably in recent years, prompting concerns from police, legislators and the public; ahead of next week’s Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference, Dr Rick Brown, Deputy Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology, outlines some of the key research and initiatives already underway to reduce CSAM in the future.

FEATURE: Online child sexual exploitation is a growing crime with horrific consequences around the world, but a global task force led by the FBI is making significant inroads, catching offenders and rescuing children; Policing Insight Contributing Editor Tina Orr Munro reports from the UK’s Internet Intelligence and Investigations Conference on the success of the VCACITF.