Child Sexual AbuSe ImageS - Canadian Centre for Child Protection

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Overf30,300fvoluntaryfpublicfreportsf
were submitted to Cybertip.ca between
September 26, 2002 and March 31, 2009.
4.1 methodology and research questions
Given the illegal and often secretive nature of online child sexual exploitation, very
little information exists regarding the severity of the problem in Canada. However,
as Canada’s tipline for reporting child sexual exploitation, Cybertip.ca generates
invaluable and unique statistics. Since its launch, the tipline has received over
30,300 voluntary reports from the public, all of which are retained by Cybertip.ca in
a secure database. This comprehensive collection of information provides unique
data on the scope of the problem in Canada.
This report provides an in-depth look at the reports—particularly websites hosting
child sexual abuse images—received by Cybertip.ca from its launch on September
26, 2002 1 until March 31, 2009. The process involved a review of the database; all
fields in the online report form were available for analysis, as well as numerous
fields that are tracked internally by analysts. Methods included:
ff Reviewing Cybertip.ca reports manually.
ff Speaking to analysts to obtain empirical evidence and discuss observed trends.
ff Querying the database to run frequencies and collate information.
ff Writing scripts to parse information. These are instructions that allow a
separation and extraction of relevant data from the database in categorical fields,
as well as text from HTML snapshots. 2
ff Using commercially and publicly available database tools such as MaxMind
geoIP for real-time geographic location lookups and WHOIS for domain/
network registry information.
1 Cybertip.ca launched as a provincial pilot program in Manitoba in September 2002. The tipline operated as such until May 2004, when the Government
of Canada announced that Cybertip.ca was Canada’s National Tipline. A public launch event was held in January 2005 and was followed by pan-Canadian
public awareness initiatives.
2 Cybertip.ca does not store images of child sexual abuse.
The Cybertip.ca database is redefined and upgraded on an ongoing basis; as new
trends are identified, classifications are expanded or changed. On April 14, 2008, a
major redesign of the database was launched. This new system, which automates
a number of analyst tasks, also simplifies modifications to the database. This
means that since April 2008, the number of fields being tracked by Cybertip.ca has
increased significantly. As a result of these ongoing improvements, total numbers,
as well as the time periods in which items were analyzed, may vary.
Consequently, in some instances, sample sizes may be small. In these instances, we
do not intend for the results to show statistical validity, but rather possible patterns
and trends in need of further inquiry. These fields will be followed closely over the
upcoming years to watch for changing trends and create more robust data.
INITIAl ReSeARCH queSTIONS
1 How many websites hosting child abuse material have been reported to
Cybertip.ca and what do these websites look like?
2 What is the age of victims on websites hosting child sexual abuse
images and are they more likely to be images of girl or boy children?
3 What is the degree of abuse being depicted against the child, as
assessed by the analyst image severity classification?
4 Can we track the geographic location of websites, including where illegal
content is most likely to be hosted and how it moves between locations?
5 What can we learn about child sexual abuse by looking at the content of
websites that host images (layout, text, content, title bars, etc.)?
6 Is there a difference between commercial child abuse websites and
those that are available free of charge?
In some instances, sample sizes may be small. In these instances, we do not
intend for the results to show statistical validity, but rather possible patterns
and trends in need of further inquiry.
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