Acknowledging the traumatic impact of investigating online child sex abuse

This article contains sensitive subject matter.

Protecting children from the unspeakable harms of sex trafficking and online sexual exploitation is vital, important work. Unfortunately, the need for such protections is greater than ever. Tech-savvy criminals have leveraged the internet to turn child sex abuse into one of the world’s most lucrative illicit industries, a multi-billion-dollar business. Of all the criminal activity in the world, only drug trafficking is more profitable.

What is seldom considered amid the alarming growth of these crimes against children is how potentially harmful it can be to work in this environment as a law enforcement professional. Given the high risk of exposure leading to traumatic results, experts say it’s necessary to ensure we understand, care for and properly support the health and well-being of the Internet Child Exploitation law enforcement professionals who perform this critical role.

A new paper published by a team of international researchers, led by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)’s Jennifer Martin, argues that the way we talk about the experiences of law enforcement who investigate child sex abuse material (CSAM) makes an important difference to our collective understanding of their work and its potentially negative impacts. 

“The language we use determines how we think about things, how we speak about them, how we write about them,” explained professor Martin, a child and youth care professor and international expert on child sex trafficking and online child sexual exploitation. “That in turn guides how we act, behave and respond, or whether we respond at all.”

Terminology doesn’t capture the experience of law enforcement

The law enforcement professionals interviewed for this research said that descriptions of CSAM as “something they view or work with” didn’t capture the reality of their experience. Rather, they spoke of “immersion” in the material, “working closely with/regularly seeing and hearing distressing content,” which entails a deep involvement requiring great mental effort in the search for any relevant clue.

While the trauma law enforcement professionals experience as a result of investigating CSAM has long been classified as “secondary” or “vicarious,” professor Martin and her fellow authors disagree. Instead, they believe the ongoing, cumulative effects of exposure to CSAM material should be classified as primary trauma.

‘Those are just simple words, but they make a difference’
 

“If we talk about secondary trauma or vicarious trauma, it implies it's not as serious or severe or as impactful as primary trauma,” professor Martin explained. “We need to call it what it is. It is trauma, a primary trauma. I know those are just simple words, but they make a difference. It makes a difference in how you're judged, in your ability to manage the work you're doing, and how you judge yourself.

“It really affects the way it is viewed by society, it affects the kinds of supports that are made available and the willingness of those who are impacted to access the supports that are available.”

The term “immersion” was an unexpected revelation that emerged from interviews with law enforcement.

“It wasn't something we were seeking, but it was something that really mattered to them. They're in it, full on, and it's not just one time. They are studying these sexual abuse images over and over and over again, because they're trying to locate and protect these children from harm.”

In professor Martin’s view, the need to properly care for Internet Child Exploitation law enforcement professionals is sure to intensify. Their work, she explained, has become increasingly complicated by a growing volume of AI-generated images that appear legitimate but don’t involve a real child.

“We need to better prepare, orient, train and support law enforcement to do this work from a trauma-informed health and wellness approach to reduce the negative impacts and negative results,” professor Martin said. “If we can't take care of those doing this work, it’s going to be very difficult to locate, protect and respond effectively to the children.”

Read professor Martin’s paper “‘Once you see it you can't unsee it’: Law enforcement trauma and immersion in child sexual abuse material” (external link)  in Science Direct.