Improving international co-operation, exchanging experiences and best practices, and adopting a collaborative approach are essential for effectively addressing online child sexual abuse and exploitation. This was one of the key conclusions of the workshop at the "Cryptocurrency and Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation", organized by the Southeast Europe Police Chiefs Association (SEPCA) at the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C), from 11 to 13 September in Podgorica.
The OSCE Mission to Montenegro supported the organization of this event, which gathered more than 20 participants from eight police departments from the region, with experts from Austria, France, Romania and the United Kingdom.
In addressing the participants, Mr. Stephen Harmon, the Mission's Security Co-operation and Governance Programme Manager, explained that cryptocurrencies are a technical and financial innovation that hold high potential for the global economy, but at the same time are increasingly exploited for criminal activities.
"The growing use of cryptocurrencies to purchase material featuring child sexual abuse and exploitation is a critical issue that demands immediate attention. This is especially pressing given the significant rise in the use of cryptocurrencies to acquire such illicit content. With law enforcement efforts struggling to keep pace with rapidly advancing technology, addressing this issue requires a collaborative approach involving governments, law enforcement, tech industry, civil society, schools, and parents," said Harmon.
Through 11 training sessions, the participants examined how bitcoin basics, blockchains, and cryptocurrencies are used in child sexual abuse and how to trace such transactions. The need to foster dialogue and strengthen joint efforts to protect children from this form of exploitation was emphasised.
The event was also supported by the Council of Europe and the Criminal Intelligence Service of Austria.
Risk Warning: Cryptocurrency is a unregulated virtual notoriously volatile instrument with a high level of risk. Any news, opinions, research, data, or other information contained within this website is provided for news reporting purposes as general market commentary and does not constitute investment or trading advice.
