New research reveals hidden child sexual exploitation In Aotearoa

“There were men waiting in the shed.”

This is not a story from overseas. It’s a quote from a young person right here in Aotearoa New Zealand — one of several survivors interviewed for a new report released today by ECPAT NZ.

Timed for the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (July 30), this report is the first of its kind in Aotearoa to investigate patterns of child sexual exploitation (CSE) from the perspectives of both survivors and frontline practitioners. It uncovers a reality that, until now, has remained largely unspoken: organised, covert, and sustained sexual exploitation of children is happening here — and our systems are failing to detect it.

“Young people described being groomed, coerced, filmed, blackmailed, and transported to locations where multiple adults were waiting. Some were trafficked between towns or passed between offenders. Most were not believed.” – Report Summary

Aligned to calls for a modern slavery bill, this report draws attention to child trafficking and exploitation already happening within New Zealand’s own borders — often involving networks of adults and facilitated by both in-person and digital means.

ECPAT NZ National Director Eleanor Parkes says the research reveals how systemic blind spots — including inconsistent definitions, a lack of data, and fragmented interagency responses — are allowing this exploitation to continue largely unchallenged.

“There’s a public perception that child trafficking is something that happens elsewhere, or that it’s only about international movement,” Parkes says. “What this report shows is that exploitation here is often highly organised, but entirely domestic — and it’s falling between the cracks because we haven’t had the tools or language to name it.”

Among the report’s findings:

• Young people were repeatedly exploited by multiple adults across time and place

• Some were transported to meet offenders or targeted online and then manipulated into offline abuse

• Practitioners across services consistently lacked clear frameworks to identify or record CSE — leading to underreporting, misclassification, and missed opportunities to intervene.

• There is no national system for collecting data on CSE in Aotearoa, and no formal definition embedded across policy or legislation.

The report calls for urgent cross-sector investment in prevention, response, and visibility — particularly as digital exploitation becomes increasingly sophisticated. “We need to stop blaming ‘risky’ behaviour of young people,” says Principal Investigator Dr Natalie Thorburn, “they’re being exploited following grooming that plays on normal teenage needs — like wanting to feel accepted, loved, noticed, or part of something exciting”.

The research is being launched today at a specialist panel event bringing together experts from child protection, sexual violence services, digital harm prevention, and trafficking response sectors — a rare cross-sector collaboration aimed at breaking the silos that have left children unprotected for too long.

“We hope this report will be a tool — one that helps us build shared definitions, push for national coordination, design better prevention, and equip every practitioner in this country to recognise and respond to child sexual exploitation” – Parkes.