GNV News April 12, 2025
According to a study conducted by the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom in 2025, child sexual exploitation and abuse online and through other forms of technology,Billions of U.S. dollarsIt is estimated to be an international industry in size. The organization estimates that each year300 million peopleof children are experiencing technology-facilitated abuse, according to the report. In addition to the distribution of images and videos of sexual abuse against children, advances in AI technology have also led to a surge in counterfeit child pornography based on images of real children.
It is not only perpetrators who operate sexual exploitation and abuse who benefit from this exploitation. Financial institutions, technology companies, online payment services, and social media platforms have knowingly or negligently allowed the flow of criminal proceeds topromotionThe company is working on a number of projects. With specific online payment and remittance systems and cryptocurrencies that do not require direct sharing of banking details, as a specific example,financial blackmailand trafficking of child sexual abuse content in small, highly secretive family units instead of large organized crime networks.possibleThe company is in the process of becoming a
Countermeasures include laws and regulations, the development of technology to detect generated AI content, and the establishment of an international fund interception framework led by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to enable the tracking of funds across borders.urgent businessIt is considered to be aUnited Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)The "Law Enforcement Agency" also calls for the pursuit of responsibility and strengthening of cooperation among all actors, both direct and indirect, and states that prevention strategies are essential, as well as ex post facto law enforcement measures, support for victimized children, and secondary victimization prevention.
Learn more about sexual assault victims around the world → "1 in 8 girls under 18 years of age worldwide have experienced sexual assault"
A 12-year-old girl living in a shelter for children who have been sexually exploited, Philippines (Photo:ILO/Jeffrey Leventhal / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND2.0])
As a practical matter, how well can payment institutions know what consumers have purchased? The balance with the protection of consumer privacy is also likely to be a point of contention.
Whatever the case, I am outraged at the situation where the Internet has become an almost unrestricted facilitator of child sexual exploitation.