MAP Forum

A total of 51 sexually abused children were identified during the 17th edition of the Victim Identification Task Force (VIDTF17). The operation took place over the course of two weeks, from 8 to 19 September 2025, at Europol’s headquarters. 27 experts from Europol, INTERPOL, and 22 countries worldwide worked shoulder to shoulder to analyse images of unidentified abused children, to identify and safeguard them.

The use of the term ‘child pornography’ helps child sex abusers as it indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim, and therefore legality on the part of the sex abuser. By using the phrase ‘child pornography’, it conjures up images of children posing in ‘provocative’ positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse. Every photograph or video captures an actual situation where a child has been abused. This is not pornography.