Crucial perspectives from a survivor and a senior analyst at the front line of the fight against child sexual abuse material anchored the EU launch of the Internet Watch Foundation’s 2025 Annual Data & Insights Report.
The audience of industry leaders, parliamentary representatives and experts at the Brussels event on May 13 listened intently to a spokesperson from the Marie Collins Foundation Lived Experience group as he described the missing years of his childhood following technologically assisted sexual abuse.
His story was one of hope, however, and he gave a nod to the work of the IWF as being an important part of his recovery journey, with its mission to stop the repeated victimisation of survivors through finding and removing their sexual abuse images online.
The knowledge that their efforts directly help victims and survivors provides pivotal motivation for analysts in the IWF Hotline, said senior analyst Rosa*, who gave insight into the challenging content that they see every day in their roles.
Protect Children Finland’s Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen, who spoke in a strong panel discussion hosted by IWF CEO Kerry Smith at the event, said that the survivor voice should be central to how Europe responds to the disruption of child sexual abuse material online.
She was joined on the panel by Verena Mertens, Member of the European Parliament; Grete Raidma, from the INHOPE network of hotlines; and Julie Guichard, from Microsoft.
In a wide-ranging discussion that addressed gaps in current EU frameworks to tackle child sexual abuse online and how cooperation across sectors could be strengthened to scale impact, MEP Mertens stressed that “data protection must never become a shield behind which offenders can hide.”
The event began with a presentation of the IWF’s latest findings by Head of Hotline Ngaire Alexander, who highlighted the latest trends in online child sexual abuse and how systemic weaknesses on the internet are exploited, creating a thriving online child sexual abuse “marketplace”.
More than half (63%) of the child sexual abuse URLs actioned by the IWF in 2025 were traced to hosting services in EU member states.
