Childlight

Searchlight 2025

The sexual exploitation and abuse of children is a global health crisis — one that governments and institutions around the world are increasingly recognising and addressing.
 
Scroll down for the Searchlight 2025 report and individual studies.

Searchlight 2025 Companion Report
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April 2025

Searchlight 2025 Overview - Paul Stanfield, Childlight CEO

Our latest Searchlight report into the nature of the crisis underscores the need for urgent action, shining a light on the financial networks that fuel child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).

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April 2025

STUDY B: Where does the money flow? An exploratory study on the financial structures of organised crime linked to child sexual exploitation

Networks prioritise cash transactions and anonymous payment methods, making it difficult to trace their operations.

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April 2025

STUDY D: Swipe wrong: How sex offenders target single parents on dating apps to exploit their children

More than one in five male abusers use matchmaking sites daily.

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April 2025

STUDY E: Hidden casualties of war: CSAM possession during humanitarian crises

Reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) hosting rose in Ukraine and the Holy Land, while peer-to-peer sharing of CSAM fell in war, famine and disease settings.

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April 2025

STUDY F: Legal challenges in tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: Who is accountable according to the law?

Existing laws provide good grounds for accountability, but still have notable gaps. These gaps need to be addressed in order to fully provide the protections and accountability needed to keep children safe in view of the advent of AI. Significant legal reforms are underway in all jurisdictions examined.

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April 2025

STUDY G: Unmasking exploitation: Study of Supreme Court cases reveals changing landscape of child sexual exploitation and abuse in the Philippines

Shifting tactics and rising threats constitute the new face of child exploitation in the digital age.

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April 2025

STUDY H: Access denied: How blocklists are thwarting attempts to view CSAM

Internet users attempt to access banned content five times every second.

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Childlight Research Integrity, Quality and Licensing

Review our commitment to research integrity and compliance with policies and practices across Childlight.

Research Quality and Integrity Policy V1 0 | Searchlight 2025 Quality Assurance Statement

All Searchlight 2025 studies are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This means the content may be shared and adapted for any purpose – including commercial use – provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.

Searchlight 2023

If you are looking for the studies and reports for Searchlight 2023, please click below

Searchlight 2023

If you have been affected by exploitation or abuse and need support, please visit

Child Helpline International