Referral Pathways
Child Sexual Exploitation Material
Pathway Map for Victim-Survivors
In the absence of a national referral mechanism for victim-survivors of commercial sexual exploitation in Aotearoa, it can be challenging to navigate the services available. Particularly for those who have experienced trauma, it can feel nearly impossible to self-advocate for support when pathways are not clear. If you, or someone you are working with or supporting, have been sexually exploited, this map aims to show what options exist for help along the journey.
- Past experience of abuse/sexual abuse
- Parental history of child abuse victimisation
- Parental problems e.g. intimate partner violence
- Parenting problems e.g. low quality of parent-child relation
- A non-nuclear family structure e.g. having a stepfather
- Disability
- Poor mental health
- On-going impacts of colonisation
- Chronic physical health issues
- Family problems e.g. social isolation
Netsafe
Netsafe has a statutory role to receive reports from NZ internet users who believe that they are being harmed under the 10 principles of the Harmful Digital Communications Act (2015). They take complaints about harmful content, review those complaints, and help complainants understand their options for resolution. Netsafe can assist in having explicit content removed including mediating between complainants and those accused of producing or disseminating content. For complaints about harmful content to be filed in civil court, complainants are required to have engaged with Netsafe’s processes.
Regarding sexualised images, the majority of Netsafe referrals come from the people depicted and/or their legal guardians. Parents/guardians often report situations on behalf of a young person who has been induced to produce intimate images. Referrals are also received from school staff and the police. Concerned members of the public, who may be tangentially connected to a young person via social media, also often make referrals.
Staff at Netsafe perform a Risk and Harm assessment and offer emotional support to people while they are making their report, however they do not form an ongoing support relationship. Where young people require additional or ongoing support referrals will be made to other agencies or helplines. An introduction is usually done via a warm handover, rather than a direct referral. The exception to that would be if the young person was thought to be at risk of harm to self or other and was declining support, in which case Netsafe might breach their confidentiality to keep them safe, including referring to police if necessary.
A lot of people engage anonymously, and often choose to withhold their age, although this becomes evident when images are viewed. Where this is the case, Netsafe attempts to engage them with other agencies rather than just removing the content. Content would be taken down, but sometimes this would be done in discussion with law enforcement as well.
Occasionally disclosures of physical harm are made to Netsafe, and these will be triaged and passed to the appropriate agency, usually OCEANZ. Sometimes multiple types of harm are reported as single incidents, and some of these include disclosures of physical abuse. Sometimes those disclosures happen later after rapport builds or an assessment pulls it out of them.
New Zealand Police
The Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ) Team within New Zealand Police generally coordinates international operations into online paedophile or child exploitation networks, grooming, identify child sexual offenders by electronically patrolling social network websites. They also target New Zealand child exploitation sites including those producing images and abuse for financial gain, in an effort to identify and protect victims.
Referrals to the OCEANZ Team come from a variety of sources including;
- National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- NZ Policing District/National workgroups
- Domestic referrals (e.g., Netsafe, ECPAT, Crimestoppers)
- International Referrals (e.g., international law enforcement agencies)
There are many areas within New Zealand Police where reports/complaints about CSEM may be made including the 105 non-emergency reporting hotline, online reporting tools available to the public, and police station front counters.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within New Zealand Police is also able to identify potential offenders/victims through financial reporting. They receive referrals via Suspicious Transaction Reports that are received from financial reporting entities, such as banks, about the possible purchase of CSEM. These reports are analysed to determine if there are flags for child exploitation related offending and referrals which warrant further investigation will generally be sent to units such as OCEANZ or District CPT teams.
Where domestic victims are identified, referrals will be made to the relevant regional Child and Youth policing department so that an approach can be made to ensure the safety of the child. A referral will also be made to Oranga Tamariki. Police also work collaboratively with Oranga Tamariki to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people in accordance with the Child Protection Protocol: Joint Standard Operating Procedures (CPP).
Oranga Tamariki
Referrals relating to CSEM victim-survivors are received by Oranga Tamariki at two main intake points. The public, and organisations not specifically working to investigate CSEM, are likely to refer via the National Contact Centre, while organisations with a focus on CSEM refer via the International Child Protection Unit.
Oranga Tamariki also have a role in protecting any children in the homes of adults thought to be in possession of and/or distributing objectional material, even if no contact has been identified with New Zealand based victims. Where there are children in the home of the alleged offender, Oranga Tamariki Child Protection social workers will work with the family to understand and identify if there are any protective adults caring for the children and work in partnership with the family, whānau, children and other professionals to address any concerns.
New Zealand Police
The Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ) Team within New Zealand Police generally coordinates international operations into online paedophile or child exploitation networks, grooming, identify child sexual offenders by electronically patrolling social network websites. They also target New Zealand child exploitation sites including those producing images and abuse for financial gain, in an effort to identify and protect victims.
Referrals to the OCEANZ Team come from a variety of sources including;
- National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- NZ Policing District/National workgroups
- Domestic referrals (e.g., Netsafe, ECPAT, Crimestoppers)
- International Referrals (e.g., international law enforcement agencies)
There are many areas within New Zealand Police where reports/complaints about CSEM may be made including the 105 non-emergency reporting hotline, online reporting tools available to the public, and police station front counters.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within New Zealand Police is also able to identify potential offenders/victims through financial reporting. They receive referrals via Suspicious Transaction Reports that are received from financial reporting entities, such as banks, about the possible purchase of CSEM. These reports are analysed to determine if there are flags for child exploitation related offending and referrals which warrant further investigation will generally be sent to units such as OCEANZ or District CPT teams.
Where domestic victims are identified, referrals will be made to the relevant regional Child and Youth policing department so that an approach can be made to ensure the safety of the child. A referral will also be made to Oranga Tamariki. Police also work collaboratively with Oranga Tamariki to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people in accordance with the Child Protection Protocol: Joint Standard Operating Procedures (CPP).
Digital Child Exploitation Team, Digital Safety, Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)
The primary role of the Digital Child Exploitation Team is to investigate offences under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classifications Act 1993 in relation to objectionable publications concerning child sexual exploitation and abuse imagery. This typically involves dealing with the offenders; however, Investigators may engage directly with victims of publication-based offending if they come to light during an investigation.
Where the Digital Child Exploitation Team does engage with a child who is the subject of the CSEM under investigation that engagement would be to notify them of the use of the images, that the images would be included in charges against the offender and that Police will be in contact with them to get a victim impact statement.
Referrals concerning NZ based victim-survivors are either self-reports by victim-survivors to the social media/online platform that reports via NCMEC, or victim-survivors are identified through victim identification process where material is found with unidentified victims.
DIA has a publicly available webform where members of the public may report that they (or someone they know) are a victim of CSEM publication or dissemination. They also receive referrals from New Zealand based cloud storage providers to confirm that reported links contain CSEM. DIA is able to seize electronic devices suspected to hold CSEM and forensic examination is then undertaken to analyze material. Victims can be identified through the examination of CSEM material on these devices. A victim identification process will be undertaken to try and identify any unknown child. DIA can receive proactive reporting from online platforms and organisations (e.g., Domain Name Commission, ECPAT portal and Netsafe). DIA also generates cases through proactive online investigations.
New Zealand Police
The Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ) Team within New Zealand Police generally coordinates international operations into online paedophile or child exploitation networks, grooming, identify child sexual offenders by electronically patrolling social network websites. They also target New Zealand child exploitation sites including those producing images and abuse for financial gain, in an effort to identify and protect victims.
Referrals to the OCEANZ Team come from a variety of sources including;
- National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- NZ Policing District/National workgroups
- Domestic referrals (e.g., Netsafe, ECPAT, Crimestoppers)
- International Referrals (e.g., international law enforcement agencies)
There are many areas within New Zealand Police where reports/complaints about CSEM may be made including the 105 non-emergency reporting hotline, online reporting tools available to the public, and police station front counters.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within New Zealand Police is also able to identify potential offenders/victims through financial reporting. They receive referrals via Suspicious Transaction Reports that are received from financial reporting entities, such as banks, about the possible purchase of CSEM. These reports are analysed to determine if there are flags for child exploitation related offending and referrals which warrant further investigation will generally be sent to units such as OCEANZ or District CPT teams.
Where domestic victims are identified, referrals will be made to the relevant regional Child and Youth policing department so that an approach can be made to ensure the safety of the child. A referral will also be made to Oranga Tamariki. Police also work collaboratively with Oranga Tamariki to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people in accordance with the Child Protection Protocol: Joint Standard Operating Procedures (CPP).
Child Exploitation Operations Team (CEOT), New Zealand Customs Service
New Zealand Customs Service Child Exploitation Operations Team (CEOT) is responsible for protecting New Zealand’s community from cross-border harm, including by restricting the movement across our borders (both physical and virtual) of child sexual exploitation material, particularly objectionable publications, and obscene articles such as child-like sex dolls. They are responsible for enforcing legislation around import and export of child sexual exploitation images as well as interdicting potential sex tourism offenders. The CEOT also assist NZ Police and the DIA with victim identification and support the Police with apprehension of contact offenders. NZ Customs support the NZ Police activity within the Virtual Global Taskforce.
Oranga Tamariki
Referrals relating to CSEM victim-survivors are received by Oranga Tamariki at two main intake points. The public, and organisations not specifically working to investigate CSEM, are likely to refer via the National Contact Centre, while organisations with a focus on CSEM refer via the International Child Protection Unit.
Oranga Tamariki also have a role in protecting any children in the homes of adults thought to be in possession of and/or distributing objectional material, even if no contact has been identified with New Zealand based victims. Where there are children in the home of the alleged offender, Oranga Tamariki Child Protection social workers will work with the family to understand and identify if there are any protective adults caring for the children and work in partnership with the family, whānau, children and other professionals to address any concerns.
New Zealand Police
The Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ) Team within New Zealand Police generally coordinates international operations into online paedophile or child exploitation networks, grooming, identify child sexual offenders by electronically patrolling social network websites. They also target New Zealand child exploitation sites including those producing images and abuse for financial gain, in an effort to identify and protect victims.
Referrals to the OCEANZ Team come from a variety of sources including;
- National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- NZ Policing District/National workgroups
- Domestic referrals (e.g., Netsafe, ECPAT, Crimestoppers)
- International Referrals (e.g., international law enforcement agencies)
There are many areas within New Zealand Police where reports/complaints about CSEM may be made including the 105 non-emergency reporting hotline, online reporting tools available to the public, and police station front counters.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within New Zealand Police is also able to identify potential offenders/victims through financial reporting. They receive referrals via Suspicious Transaction Reports that are received from financial reporting entities, such as banks, about the possible purchase of CSEM. These reports are analysed to determine if there are flags for child exploitation related offending and referrals which warrant further investigation will generally be sent to units such as OCEANZ or District CPT teams.
Where domestic victims are identified, referrals will be made to the relevant regional Child and Youth policing department so that an approach can be made to ensure the safety of the child. A referral will also be made to Oranga Tamariki. Police also work collaboratively with Oranga Tamariki to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people in accordance with the Child Protection Protocol: Joint Standard Operating Procedures (CPP).
Barriers
Maximising the information available to investigators
Investigating agencies fed back to us that they find it useful to take full advantage of all available information when investigating instances of CSEM. This included being able to do a full and robust analysis of seized devices to increase the chances of being able to find victims, prioritizing the identification of victims as part of the imagery analysis processes, as well as uncovering as much information as possible in the images that were being analysed. Where referrals were being received for images, URLs of relevant profiles and activity were said to be of greater use rather than screenshots.
Relationships and communication
Both government agencies and NGOs commented on the importance of strong relationships to allow for rapid responses and delivery of information. It is important that the different agencies working in this area have a good understanding of each other’s roles, and it was thought that this was working well to maximise cooperation and increase outcomes for victim-survivors.
Technological advances
The move to end-to-end encryption on some online platforms decreases the visibility of offenders and therefore increases the ability for them to offend online. End-to-end encryption prevents providers ability to scan sites using artificial intelligence to identify content. The implication of this is that objectionable content is harder to find, more children/young people can be victimised, and the offending go unnoticed.
Advances in technology also provide the ability for offenders to retain extremely large collections of CSEM online. As an example, a million files can be stored in a single cloud storage account. Due to restrictions in resourcing, when a large data cache is identified on a device or in cloud storage, there is currently limited ability to fully analyze all material and ensure all material has been accurately attributed.
Lack of support of the whānau of alleged offenders
If we expand who is constructed as a “victim” to anyone adversely impacted by CSEM, the family members of those who are alleged to be committing crimes relating to CSEM. Currently, there is a lack of formal support for offenders families despite the fact that having a whānau member accused of these crimes can be very distressing for there is not currently a support organisation for those who are affected. Internationally, organisations such as PARTNERSPEAK provide this type of support service and options for the delivery of a service like this are currently being investigated by DIA.
Transnational operations
Inconsistencies in the legislative frameworks of different countries facilitate a discrepancy in the level of cooperation that different hosting organisations are prepared to offer. Although, in Aotearoa, we have clear legislation under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, not all hosting nations have such clear-cut laws. This makes things challenging for domestic agencies when contacting hosts transnationally, a fact which it was felt that offenders quite intentionally exploit.
It was felt that some hosts in some regions were almost bulletproof, had no interest in removing content and could not be compelled to. Offenders quite intentionally choose hosting countries where they know that the legislation makes it difficult to have content removed, or companies that have a philosophy they know will make it hard for them to be caught, such as those underpinned by libertarian free speech ideologies.
Complexity
The legislative landscape in Aotearoa is relatively complex compared to other countries and these complexities may impact the experiences of individual victim-survivors.
There is differentiation between the role of NZ Police, who lead investigations where there has been contact offending, and the Department of Internal Affairs, who lead investigations into objectionable publications. The role of Netsafe also sits within this. There is the potential that this could be very complex, but it was felt that having good relationships seemed to ameliorate any issues related to this complexity quite quickly.
Another area of complexity which was identified was the fact that young people consensually creating and sharing images of themselves meets the criteria within the Films, Videos and Publications Classifications Act (1993) for having created and disseminated an objectionable publication. While this is this not the way that this piece of legislation is used in practice, it is possible that young people can be groomed and silenced by the threat that they will be exposed as having broken this law. Where young people have been coerced into creating such images there may also be definitional challenges around whether this constitutes contact offending. It was reported however that there is a good degree of interaction that goes on between the law enforcement agencies in NZ, and that this enables any ambiguities to be readily dealt with on the basis of good communication and relationships.
Challenges with understanding full process
The complexity of the legislation in Aotearoa, and the number of agencies involved also means that it is hard for any one agency to build a complete picture of what the CSEM landscape looks like. It was reported that this is also constrained by the limitations to information sharing, for privacy reasons, and the different timings with which organisations/agencies can share information.
It is often not possible for the initiator of an investigation to get timely or complete information on the result of that investigation, making it challenging to form understandings of the entirety of a victim-survivor’s journey through referral pathways. The difficultly extracting information out of the courts also contributes to the challenges of gaining an understanding of the whole process.