Disrupting Harm

RESOURCES

Conversations with survivors reports

Disrupting Harm: Conversations With Young Survivors About Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse centres the perspectives of young survivors from 5 of the 13 countries included in the research project. The conversations focus on understanding and interpreting what these young people were subjected to, as well as their ideas concerning the best solutions.

Read the full report:

Disrupting Harm: Conversations With Young Survivors About Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Country reports

Leveraging the unique and comprehensive evidence gathered, Disrupting Harm identifies practical and actionable solutions to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation both online and in-person. The country reports share the findings of children’s perceptions of and participation in various online practices, as well as expose their experiences of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse across 13 countries: Kenya, Uganda, Thailand, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Philippines, Viet Nam, Namibia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Mozambique, and South Africa

South Africa
Disrupting Harm in South Africa – National Report
Disrupting Harm in South Africa – Advocacy Brief

Preliminary Reports
Interviews with Government Duty Bearers
Frontline Workers’ Survey
Access to Justice Interviews with Justice Professionals
Legal Framework Analysis

Mozambique
Disrupting Harm in Mozambique – National Report English | Portuguese
Disrupting Harm in Mozambique – Advocacy Brief

Preliminary Reports
Interviews with Government Duty Bearers
Frontline Workers’ Survey
Legal Framework Analysis

Cambodia
Disrupting Harm in Cambodia – National Report English | Khmer
Disrupting Harm in Cambodia – Advocacy Brief English | Khmer

Malaysia
Disrupting Harm in Malaysia – National Report English | Malay
Disrupting Harm in Malaysia – Advocacy Brief English | Malay

Preliminary Reports
Interviews with Government Duty Bearers
Frontline Workers’ Survey
Access to Justice Interviews with Justice Professionals
Legal Framework analysis

Indonesia
Disrupting Harm in Indonesia – National Report English | Bahasa
Disrupting Harm in Indonesia – Advocacy Brief English | Bahasa

Preliminary Reports
Interviews with Government Duty Bearers
Frontline Workers’ Survey
Access to Justice Interviews with Justice Professionals
Legal Framework analysis

Namibia
Disrupting Harm in Namibia – National Report
Disrupting Harm in Namibia – Advocacy Brief

Viet Nam
Disrupting Harm in Viet Nam – National Report English | Vietnamese
Disrupting Harm in Viet Nam – Advocacy Brief English | Vietnamese

The Philippines
Disrupting Harm in the Philippines – National Report
Disrupting Harm in the Philippines – Advocacy Brief

Ethiopia
Disrupting Harm in Ethiopia – National Report English | Amharic
Disrupting Harm in Ethiopia – Advocacy Brief English | Amharic

Tanzania
Disrupting Harm in Tanzania – National Report
Disrupting Harm in Tanzania – Advocacy Brief

Thailand
Disrupting Harm in Thailand – National Report English | Thai
Disrupting Harm in Thailand – Advocacy Brief English | Thai

Uganda
Disrupting Harm in Uganda – National Report
Disrupting Harm in Uganda – Advocacy Brief

Kenya
Disrupting Harm in Kenya – Report
Disrupting Harm in Kenya – Advocacy Brief

Data Insight Series

The Data Insights are part of a series of thematic briefs that explores pressing issues emerging from the research and recommends ways for key entities and individuals to improve prevention and response.

Learning Briefs

Following the release of the country reports from the first iteration of Disrupting Harm, ECPAT conducted secondary analysis to further delve into specific themes. Access them below:

Addressing the need for comprehensive sexuality and relationships education to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse
This secondary analysis highlighted a significant insight: a substantial number of children and caregivers lack awareness and understanding of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, which affects their ability to appropriately recognise and respond to such abuses.

Gender considerations in online child sexual exploitation and abuse: a focus on boys
This secondary analysis highlighted a significant insight: while gender does not determine the risk of such form of abuse and exploitation, gender norms and biases often hinder boys from recognising their victimisation and seeking assistance.

Understanding risks and instances of online child sexual exploitation and abuse in urban and rural settings
This secondary analysis highlighted a significant insight: despite conventional beliefs that link widespread urban connectivity with increased vulnerability to online child sexual exploitation and abuse, the Disrupting Harm research shows that children in rural areas are equally or even more vulnerable to these risks compared to their urban counterparts.

ECPAT wishes to acknowledge the hard work that made this project possible from the ECPAT member organisations in each country and a large team of ECPAT colleagues and researchers.

The challenge

Violence against children, including sexual exploitation, often happens in secret. It’s not always reported or fully understood. To protect children, we need clear, accurate information about how widespread and complex the problem is.

Disrupting Harm meets this need. It provides reliable, up-to-date data on online child sexual exploitation and abuse, and draws on a wide range of voices, from government and frontline workers to children and survivors.
The research highlights the shared responsibility of governments, law enforcement, caregivers, and tech companies. It offers a clearer picture of:

What is happening
Who is most at risk
What works to help shape stronger policies, better support for children, and more coordinated action across sectors.

OUR APPROACH

ECPAT International, INTERPOL, and UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight combined forces to better understand online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Together, we examined the context, risks, and children’s own experiences in 25 countries across six regions. This ground-breaking project was made possible with funding from Safe Online.

What makes this research unique is its broad, cross-sector approach. It uses a clear and consistent method, so policymakers and practitioners can:

compare results
identify both local differences and global patterns
better understand how to respond – both at home and internationally.

ECPAT: Understanding the context

ECPAT looked closely at each country’s laws, policies, and systems for dealing with online child sexual exploitation and abuse. We also gathered new data in 13 countries to better understand the issue.

INTERPOL: Assessing the threat

For each country, INTERPOL collected data law enforcement agencies, NGOs and the Internet industry to measure the scope and nature of the problem. INTERPOL also conducted a needs analysis of the capacity of law enforcement agencies to counter technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse.

UNICEF: Gathering Children’s Perspectives

UNICEF conducted nationally-representative household surveys with around 1,000 children and 1,000 of their caregivers in each of the 13 countries. The purpose was to hear directly from children and parents about children’s online experiences.

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIRST PHASE OF DISRUPTING HARM

Disrupting Harm data estimates that millions of children were subjected to online sexual exploitation and abuse across the 13 countries in one year alone. The proportions of children subjected to this type of abuse and exploitation in the year prior to the study varied from 1% in Viet Nam to 20% of children in the Philippines. Scaled to the general population of Internet-using children, these estimates represent millions of children in each country.
In almost all 13 countries, perpetrators of online child sexual exploitation and abuse were more likely to be someone the child already knew. While unknown people still present a considerable risk, especially for children in some countries (primarily Malaysia and the Philippines), the danger is often closer to home.
Almost one in three children who had been subjected to online sexual exploitation and abuse did not disclose the sexual explotiation and abuse to anyone with almost half saying they didn’t know where to go or who to tell.
Sexual abuse often occurred through a mix of online and in-person interactions shattering the misconception that it remains limited to the digital world

Vist Safe Online’s website to learn more here.

Impact

The first phase of Disrupting Harm (2019–2022) was implemented in 13 countries across:

- Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam
- Eastern and Southern Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda

Its success led to a renewed $7 million investment in 2022 and expansion into 12 additional countries across four more regions:

- Eastern Europe
- Latin America and the CaribbeanThe first phase of Disrupting Harm (2019–2022) was implemented in 13 countries across:
- Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam
- Eastern and Southern Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda
- Its success led to a renewed $7 million investment in 2022 and expansion into 12 additional countries across four more regions:
- Eastern Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Middle East and North Africa
- South Asia
- This brings the total investment to $15 million across 25 countries – a major step forward in the global response to online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
- Middle East and North Africa
- South Asia

This brings the total investment to $15 million across 25 countries – a major step forward in the global response to online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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