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Research
Under the broad umbrella of research to combat the sexual abuse of children, we focus on two specific subsets:
Child sex trafficking (CST)
The recruitment, movement or holding of children for forced sexual abuse. During COVID-19 lockdowns, CST shifted away from streets and public places and migrated into online platforms such as social media, chat, and gaming.
Online child sexual exploitation (OCSE)
The act of manipulating children to participate in online sexual encounters — whether through luring, grooming, sexting, sextortion, live abuse streaming or other forms.
Publications
- Martin, J., Gharabaghi, K., & Donevan, M. (2025). Dismantling silos: cross-sectoral response to combating child sex trafficking and online child sexual exploitation (external link) . Frontiers in Psychology, 16.
- Rimer, J., Brown, S., Martin, J., & Slane, A. (2025). “Once you see it you can’t unsee it”: Law enforcement trauma and immersion in child sexual abuse material (external link) . Child Protection and Practice, 4, Article 100085.
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2024). (PDF file) Exploring the phenomenon of reported runaways in Canada
- Simonovska, T., Sinclair, R., & Duval, K. (2023). International health and wellness of online child sexual exploitation police personnel: Individual, management, and organizational realms of responsibility (external link) . Frontiers in Psychology, 13.
- Martin, J., & Slane, A. (2022). Review of the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Counselling Program in Ontario (external link) . Victims of Crime Research Digest, 15.
- Connolly, A., Ste-Marie, M., & O’Shea, K. (2021). (PDF file) Exploring the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the number of reported missing persons in Canada during 2020.
- Slane, A., Martin, J., Rimer, J. (2021). Views and Attitudes About Youth Self-Produced Sexual Images Among Professionals with Expertise in Child Sexual Abuse (external link) . Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 30(2), 207-229.
- Duval, K., Simonovska, T., & Sinclair, R. (2020). (PDF file) The virtual global taskforce international health and wellness research project: Health and wellness among online child sexual exploitation employees.
- Martin, J., Slane, A., Brown, S., & Martin, E. (2020). Gap Analysis of Services for Victims and Survivors of Online Child Sexual Exploitation in Canada (external link) . Reports and Publications. Department of Justice Canada, Government of Canada.
- Slane, A., Martin, J., Rimer, J., Eke, A., Sinclair, R., Charles, G., & Quayle, E. (2018). Professionals’ perspectives on viewing child sexual abuse images to improve response to victims (external link) . Canadian Review of Sociology – Special Issue: Internet and Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents, 55(4), 579-596.
- Martin, J. (2016). Child sexual abuse images online: Implications for social work training and practice (external link) British Journal of Social Work, 46(2), 372-388.
- Martin, J. (2015). Conceptualizing the harms done to children in sexual abuse images online (external link) . Special Issue: Child & Youth Services, 36(4), 267-287.
- Martin, J. (2014). “It’s just an image, right?”: Practitioners’ understanding of child sexual abuse images online and effects on victims (external link) . Child & Youth Services, 35(2), 96-115.
- Martin, J., & Alaggia, R. (2013). Sexual abuse images in cyberspace: Expanding the ecology of the child (external link) . Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 22(4), 398-415.