Keywords

• Actions  Assistance to victims  Detection of violence  Exchange of good practice  Studies, Research, Data collection 
• Beneficiaries  Children 
• Intermediaries  Police and law enforcement  Social workers 
• Topics  Child Pornography  On-line violence 

Comments

This was a complex project that, in addition to its proposed major aim, involves important questions regarding multi-sectoral collaboration, privacy and confidentiality, law enforcement and child protection. Its stated aim was to explore whether, in instances where on-line child pornography is discovered, the children in the images have been identified/are identified, and whether adequate and appropriate support has been/is then provided to the children (and potentially their families).
The project worked first with recent cases where children had been identified. This involved, as a preliminary task, mapping where such identification takes place (eg at desk officer level in a police unit, in which areas/countries/institutional arms, possibly by other agents). Clearly the cooperation of police forces in each partner country and at several different levels is vital; this was a major challenge in the first few months of the project. Relationship-building and engagement of the police took longer than anticipated but was successful.
This was a 24-month project. The final outcome was to be enhanced understanding of the relationship between identification and child protection issues and practical issues involved, and guidance to professionals working in this area.
The project held Experts meetings during the course of the research, which brought together child psychologists and therapists, social services, law enforcement agents and NGOs,  both to share initial findings, assess the results and advise and assist in the next steps of the research. In addition the Project appointed an Ethics Advisory Panel made up of three EU experts in the fields of law enforcement, research and law, and child psychiatry.  Recent cases of child pornography on the Internet were identified and recorded to assess the process of identification and the type of support given to the child victim.  Internet Service Providers were not included in the project so that technical issues would not influence the shape of the research, which was axed around child protection issues.
By the end of the first year, the project had already contributed to greater understanding of the impact on children of appearing on the Internet in child pornography, and identified different techniques for successful identification of child victims and the barriers that prevent successful identification.
This was a ground-breaking project; it was the first time that this type of research had ever been undertaken on sexual crimes against children in the EU. The multi-skilled and international teams made important links throughout the EU between policing and social and child services. They contributed to the development of an EU-wide model of suggested good practice and contributed to a database of material for investigations on child pornography on the Internet. EU work in this are will grow and this project certainly advanced debates in this area to a higher level.
However, a word of caution is necessary to anyone reading this:  It became clear at the beginning of this difficult and sensitive project that it is crucial that the project remain at a low profile. There should be little public information about this project available, and media interest must be positively discouraged. The reasoning behind this is that the project dealt with and produced extremely sensitive and confidential information. It is clear that keeping a low profile is essential to build on the relationships with law enforcement bodies. Furthermore, it is of concern that the findings of the project might not only encourage media campaigns by newspapers in the attempt to identify children, but that it is also possible that such information might aid child pornographers in learning how to keep their images anonymous. 
NOTE: A third year of project activity was carried out under project 2002/079/C.  Please check information relating to that project for further information.

Lessons and Ideas

Because of the sensitive nature of the project, building a working relationship with law enforcement agencies in order to get police commitment to the project and access to data at first proved difficult.  Law enforcement, not surprisingly, were reluctant to share information of this nature with non-police organizations and it took time to build up trust and methods of working. As a result, the case investigation was delayed until authorization by the law enforcement agencies was given. This delayed the timetable of meetings with experts. It was also difficult to get access to parents, as denial of the crime is often a barrier to engaging in the research.  What was necessary to overcome these obstacles was both time and dedicated efforts to prove and demonstrate trust.  This resulted in solid working relationships but took much longer than anticipated.  In such a situation, it is important to review the project (as Childnet did) and make any necessary changes to the timetable, workplan and budget, and to discuss these modifications with the funding agency.

Website

• Child Pornography on the Internet - The Victim Identification Project (VIP)
  

Organisations

• Lead organisation
    Childnet International
  
• Partner(s)
    COPINE - University College Cork
    Rädda Barnen - Save the Children Sweden
  

Material Available

Please note that, due to the sensitive nature of this project (see cautionary note above), materials are not publicly available.  Law enforcement bodies and others working directly on this issue should contact Childnet for potential access to:
· Europe-wide guidelines for suggested good practice and to advance debates and strategies in police investigations.
· Database of case studies of successful investigations of child pornography on the Internet.
·Recommendations for the roles of main law enforcement and social institutions.

Documents

• Final report_2000-067.pdf    (120 KB)     
• EN_Final report_2000-067 _1_year.doc    (109 KB)     

Useful Links

• Childnet International - United Kingdom
  http://www.childnet-int.org