The New Zealand context

Child sexual exploitation exists in New Zealand. Some children’s basic human rights are being violated; children are being treated as a commodity.

The recent release of the ‘Royal Commission of Inquiry’s final report on the abuse and neglect of children, young people and adults in the care of State and faith-based institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) between 1950 and 1999, indicated evidence of child sexual exploitation as well as significant abuse and neglect of children in NZ.

The Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP)3 released by the U.S. Department of State contains an analysis of child exploitation in a range of countries, including New Zealand, with recommendations on how responses against trafficking4 in its various forms can be strengthened. It is important to note that all trafficking is exploitation – including child sexual exploitation.

The recent TIP Report 2024 found NZ does not meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. However, thirty-three countries, including Australia, Canada, the U.S. and U.K. did meet the standards.

The Report also indicated that NZ has been assessed as category Tier 2 for the fourth year in a row4. Furthermore, New Zealand does not currently comply with TIP’s recommendation of having a national referral mechanism in place. For child sexual exploitation, in particular contact offending, this gap is significant.

Whilst modern slavery legislation has not been introduced in New Zealand, significant work has been undertaken by the Government and faith-based agencies. New Zealand has inadequate legislation against child sexual exploitation. For example, the lack of action to identify victims of child trafficking that the TIP report noted. Refer to New Zealand's Plan of Action Against Forced Labour, People Trafficking and Slavery (MBIE)5. This plan outlines actions to eliminate these practices between 2020 and 2025. This includes:

  • Prevention: Address the vulnerabilities and drivers that enable trafficking
  • Protection: Identify and protect victims
  • Enforcement: Use enforcement tools to disrupt and prosecute those who exploit others.

The University of Auckland is the only university in New Zealand that has a centre for research on modern slavery, however, it does not research child sexual exploitation.

The New Zealand Government does not currently fund research into raising awareness of child sexual exploitation in NZ. This is a gap which the Saint Nicholas Children's Trust aims to fill.

1 Thorburn, N. (2018). You can't see it if you’re not looking: Sex trafficking in Aotearoa NZ. (Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work), University of Auckland.

2 Abuse in State Care Royal Commission of Inquiry. (2024). Whanaketia - Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light Whakairihia ki te tihi o Maungarongo. In. Retrieved from https://www.abU.S.eincare.org.nz/reports/whanaketia

3 U.S. Department of State. (2024). 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report This relates to trafficking in respect of the Convention on transnational organised crime (and the accompanying protocols). It includes the worst forms of child labour including child sexual exploitation and provides recommendations to address these is the ILO Convention 182 (a separate international law instrument). The (TIP) Report is for the purpose of issuing a tier rating by the US Dept of State

4 U.S. Department of State. (2024). 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report

5 Combatting modern forms of slavery: Plan of action against forced labour, people trafficking and slavery

New Zealand statistics

“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.”

– Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1954

The sexual exploitation of children in New Zealand and around the world has become pervasive. It is important to be aware that sexual exploitation of children is the product of the environment in which it occurs.

There are close links between rates of child sexual exploitation, child abuse, and child wellbeing. The alarming facts and statistics in relation to this issue include:

A New Zealand story

On Monday 25 November 2024, a documentary entitled ‘Unmasking the Monsters’ aired on TVNZ. New Zealand Herald reporter Jared Savage spent time with the NZ Customs services team which investigates child sex abuse material in New Zealand.

Jared Savage was advised by experts that the public are blissfully ignorant about child sex abuse material (CSAM), perhaps because the depraved content is too hard to read about, and the problem has exploded in recent years. He discovered:

  • In 2016, there were more than eight million referrals globally and 1333 were sent to New Zealand agencies to be investigated. Last year, those figures had skyrocketed to 36 million and 19,865, respectively. That’s 19,865 cases of CSAM that were investigated in NZ alone!
  • Those numbers are the tip of the iceberg, given the common use of encrypted messages and the anonymity of the dark web.

Simon Peterson, in charge of the Child Exploitation and Operations Team at NZ Customs, indicated:

  • CSAM is a lot more prevalent than what most people think
  • It’s not just a problem for the rest of the world – it’s an issue that has come to New Zealand and it’s not going to go away.
  • People don’t want to talk about it; it’s pretty uncomfortable to talk about. But if we keep it in the shadows, then we’re not doing enough to protect the kids coming up behind us.
  • Nowadays, we’re having to deal with some really dark stuff online... children being raped, infants, some really horrible stuff involving animals and violence.
  • That abuse is being captured specifically so it can be shared.