The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) had its first Board of Management meeting of 2019 this week at the Australian Institute of Police Management in Manly, New South Wales, to take a closer look at the disturbing trends and dangers of online child sexual exploitation through cross-border collaboration.
During the in-depth exchange, all the attending member countries highlighted the importance of prevention and the significant increase in the number of arrests, as well as in the number of children worldwide requiring protection from online child sexual exploitation.
A number of priority areas were identified as a result of the discussion, including a need to leverage technological solutions to detect, block, and prevent the hosting of online child sexual exploitation materials.
Close national and international collaboration play a crucial role in developing strategies for this phenomenon. Created in 2004, the VGT is an international law enforcement alliance dedicated to the protection of children from online child sexual exploitation and transnational child sexual offending which is currently chaired by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The VGT law enforcement members are supported by key partners within industry and non-government organisations from around the world.
The following VGT members attended the meeting:
- Australian Federal Police;
- Dutch Politie (National Police);
- Europol;
- Interpol;
- Ministry of Interior of United Arab Emirates;
- National Crime Agency;
- New Zealand Police;
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police;
- US DHS Homeland Security Investigations.
