There is growing evidence that child sex offenders use social media and dating platforms not only to target potential child victims, but also to find adults or young people who will facilitate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Further, online domains can be used by perpetrators arrange offending, share information, and engage with one another.
This webinar presents recent research by the AIC examining:
• the prevalence and nature of requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation,
• the risk factors for mobile dating app/website users receiving requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation,
• mobile dating app/website users’ experiences with receiving sexually exploitative requests from other users when they were under the age of 18,
• how online domains allow perpetrators to engage with one another, and to leverage technology to support their offending.
Target audience: Police, tech and cybersecurity companies, policymakers
Tentative agenda
• Welcoming words from the Directors of the Institutes (Natalia Ollus & Rick Brown)
• Introduction to the topic of online child sexual exploitation (Samantha Lyneham)
• The sexual exploitation of Australian children on dating apps and websites (Michael Cahill)
• The use of online domains and technology by perpetrators of child sexual exploitation (Dr Timothy Cubitt)
• Finnish perspective/reflections Finnish representative (TBA)
• Questions and comments: 20 minutes
Speakers
Samantha Lyneham is a Principal Research Analyst at the Australian Institute of Criminology. For over a decade, Samantha has published extensively on a range of modern slavery issues including forced marriage, sexual and labour exploitation, orphanage trafficking, and Australia’s policy and legal response to these crimes. Recently, her work has focused on developing estimates of the prevalence of modern slavery victims in Australia, the attrition of cases through the Australian criminal justice system and the role of technology in facilitating modern slavery. Internationally, Samantha has collaborated with the UNODC on forced marriage, and with statistical experts to accurately quantify the prevalence of victimisation using multiple systems estimation methods. Samantha is currently undertaking a PhD at UNSW to better understand issues of consent and coercion in cases of forced marriage.
Michael John Cahill is a Research Analyst at the Australian Institute of Criminology. Michael works in the Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) Research Program, and has worked on research into juvenile sexual offending in Australia, child sexual offenders on the darknet, and the sexual exploitation of children dating platforms. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science (Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology) with Honours and a Masters of Forensic Science, where he completed a research project that was published in Forensic Science International: Genetics.
Dr Timothy Cubitt is the acting Research Manager of the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Online Sexual Exploitation of Children Research Program. Timothy’s research focuses on the online sexual exploitation of children, radicalisation and violent extremism, law enforcement responses to outlaw motorcycle gangs, and police misconduct. Timothy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism from Macquarie University, and a PhD in Criminology from Western Sydney University. His research has appeared in journals such as Crime Science, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice.
Materials
The sexual exploitation of Australian children on dating apps and websites
Risk factors for receiving requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation and abuse on dating apps and websites
Prevalence and predictors of requests for facilitated child sexual exploitation on online platforms Predicting prolific live streaming of child sexual abuse
Live streaming of child sexual abuse: An analysis of offender chat logs