This report presents the results of a two-part analysis of the multi-country data set contained in the International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) Database housed at INTERPOL and of consultations with law enforcement personnel in relation to the identification of victims and offenders pictured in Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) seized by law enforcement around the world. It forms one component of a larger programme of the ICSE Database enhancement activities financed by the European Union and carried out between 2016 and 2018 under the title International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database Connectivity and Awareness Raising Enhancements (I-CARE) Project.

The study provides insight based on visual analysis of images and videos into the profile of unidentified child victims and their abusers, including age, gender, and type and severity of abuse, and further presents the results of analysis of case-related metadata for cases recorded as both identified and unidentified in the ICSE Database. It highlights the multi-faceted challenges presented to the law enforcement and child protection community by rapid evolutions in the means available for online child exploitation and abuse as a distinct subset of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the increasingly complex role played by youth-produced sexual content in this landscape. Through analysis of confirmed and suspected locations of abuse as recorded in the ICSE Database, the study also considers the relationship between resource allocation for victim identification and rates of identification worldwide.