Creation and distribution of CSAM
Also known as:
- child sexual exploitation material(CSEM)
- child abuse material
- self-generated child sexual abuse material (SGCSAM)
What is Risk ?
Digital risk factors associated with their interests and activities
It can also refer to any image, video, or representation of the sexual parts of a child when the media is intended for sexual purposes.
Forms of child sexual abuse material include:
- nude or semi-nude sexual posing
- computer-generated material
- tracings
- data that can be turned into a photograph
Children and young people can be groomed or manipulated into creating child sexual abuse material. Once they have provided an image, they may be coerced or blackmailed into creating more.
They can be manipulated into creating child sexual abuse material using webcams or mobile devices. They may not fully realise that what they are doing on a live-streaming site is sexual, or that they are being exploited.
Ways child sexual abuse material is distributed online include:
- social media
- messenger services
- forums
- pornographic websites
- encrypted file-sharing services, sometimes known as cyberlockers
- the dark web
Child sexual abuse material on social media is sometimes shared using a burner account. These are accounts that are disposable and usually quickly removed.
Child sexual abuse material can be shared on bait out pages. These are social media accounts or messaging groups, where children and young people share localised gossip and drama.
It is illegal for anyone to make, possess, distribute, or show child sexual abuse material and nude imagery involving someone under the age of 18.
Risks and motivations
Risks
Poor physical or mental health
Sexual abuse can have both short-term and long-lasting emotional and physical impact. A child or young person may feel confused, frightened or traumatised by what has happened.
Areas of someone’s life that sexual abuse can impact include:
- family relationships
- romantic relationships
- physical and mental well-being
- education
- religion or faith
Blackmail or coercion
Child sexual abuse material may be used to blackmail or coerce someone who is in an image or video. Someone could threaten to widely distribute the image or inform a young person’s parents or school.
Someone might request more child sexual abuse material or use this as an opportunity to groom a child or young person for further abuse.
Grooming for abuse
Child sexual abuse material can be part of a grooming process. For example, someone may request to meet offline after building up a relationship with a child or young person. Harms like physical and sexual abuse may occur.
Being groomed can also result in psychological and emotional harm. A child or young person could be anxious, afraid, or have feelings of shame and guilt.They may also feel angry, feel suicidal, or develop issues with drugs and alcohol.
Breaking the law
It is illegal to take, make, show, distribute, or possess child sexual abuse material. This includes saving, printing, or storing images or media. A criminal offence is committed even if a child is sending images of themselves to another child. Accidentally sharing child sexual abuse material is also illegal.
Laws surrounding child sexual abuse material are designed to protect children rather than to criminalise them.
Non-consensual image sharing
Child sexual abuse material can be re-shared without the sender’s consent or knowledge. For example, sharing images to a social media platform or messaging group chat.
Having images shared without consent can have harmful consequences. For example, someone might be bullied by peers because of these images being shared. Images could also be used against a child or young person to blackmail and groom them for further sexual or emotional abuse.
Motivations
Reasons why a child or young person might create or share child sexual abuse material include:
- being groomed, manipulated, or coerced
- relationship pressures
- not understanding the risks
- not understanding it is illegal
- for financial gain
- for attention or validation
- low self-esteem
- limited understanding of personal boundaries
- to share with a romantic partner
- in response to receiving sexual imagery
- to humiliate someone else
Young people’s voice
I was really drunk, and this boy that I really liked, like, took advantage of me and got me to do stuff , and I told him, “No,” like, quite a few times and it still happened. And then my friends, we was upstairs, and then they video recorded us, and it got sent round the whole school. I could have been pregnant and he found out and he was telling me to kill myself... And I’d literally walk into a lesson, I’d be getting called a slag, a whore, and I didn’t wanna talk about it anyway, because I didn’t personally wanna go into it with them. So I was getting called a slag, and everything. And even my teachers were letting them call me a slag, wasn’t they? I walked out of his lesson crying, and it was so bad, like, for ages... I’ve never liked my body, but the way I look in those photos, and stuff, it literally just made me ill. I stopped eating everything... I’ve asked the school for counselling four times, and they still haven’t given it to me. So, I didn’t really get support from anyone, I had to cope with it by myself, really.
16-year-old
DIGITAL ROMANCE: A research project exploring young people’s use of technology in their romantic relationships and love lives. Brook & CEOP 2017
What you can do
GOV.UK recommend that you:
- report it to your Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or equivalent immediately.
- never view, copy, print, share, store or save the imagery yourself, or ask a child to share or download it. This is illegal.
- if you have already viewed the imagery by accident (e.g. if a young person has shown it to you before you could ask them not to), report this to the DSL (or equivalent) and seek support.
- do not delete the imagery or ask the young person to delete it.
- do not ask the child/children or young person(s) who are involved in the incident to disclose information regarding the imagery.
- do not share information about the incident with other members of staff, the young person(s) it involves or their, or other, parents and/or carers.
- do not say or do anything to blame or shame any young people involved.
- do explain to them that you need to report it and reassure them that they will receive support and help from the DSL (or equivalent).
GOV.UK also suggests that: “The designated safeguarding lead should be familiar with the full 2024 guidance from the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) and should not refer to this guidance instead of the full guidance.”
If you think that a young person is at risk, follow your safeguarding procedure and read our safeguarding guidance.
Support
Any recovery process should be in line with your child protection policy and advice from your designated safeguarding lead.
Some cases of abuse – and cases involving child sexual abuse material – will require lengthier and more specialised interventions.
- Report remove: removing nude images online (Childline) – Website
- Report child sexual abuse (Internet Watch Foundation) – Website
- Report online sexual abuse (Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)) – Website
- About child sexual abuse material (We Protect) – Website
- Support from technology-assisted child sexual abuse (Marie Collins Foundation) – Website
- Concerned about a child or young person’s sexual behaviour? (Stop It Now) – Website
- The Sexual Offences Act 2003, Section 66 (GOV.UK) – Website
- The Sexual Offences Act (Scotland) 2009, Section 6 (GOV.UK) – Website
- Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: how to respond to an incident (overview) (GOV.UK) – Website
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