New tool launched to help online abuse victims
Announcement comes as Government launches major move to safeguard children
A ‘first of its kind’ approach to helping victims of online child abuse have their images removed from the internet is being launched today at a major UK conference.
It comes after the Government announced new expectations on tech firms to activate built-in features or implement technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children.
The ECHO Survivor Hub is being unveiled at IPPPRI26, the annual conference of the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI), part of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The hub has been developed by researchers at IPPPRI at Anglia Ruskin University, in partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Protect Children. Once a victim has been referred to the hub, the IWF will actively search for their images that have been widely shared, and work to have them removed from websites.
The IWF’s recent annual report shared that it had received 451,201 reports of suspected online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in 2025, with 311,610 containing CSAM or having links to it. This is a 7% year-on-year rise and the equivalent to one report every 101 seconds showing a child being sexually abused.
Until now, when someone reports that images of their abuse are online, organisations such as the IWF can work to remove the reported examples, but no proactive work is carried out to search for specific images on other sites. One image can potentially be circulated millions of times, leading to prolonged trauma and devastating impacts.
Following this launch, when a victim has reported a case to the police and it has been investigated, they can self-refer to the ECHO Survivor Hub and the IWF will seek to identify platforms where the image is being shared and have them removed, by using the image’s ‘hash’ or digital ‘fingerprint’.
They will also support the victim in understanding options for criminal compensation and civil remedy when an offender is prosecuted for possession of their images.
The ECHO Survivor Hub Consortium will:
- Actively search for and remove survivors’ imagery from circulation,
- Prompt technology companies to proactively remove survivors’ imagery.
- Support law enforcement to engage with survivors for future investigations.
- Increase awareness of compensation options and support legal representatives to explore civil remedy.
- Listen to the needs of survivors, support them and offer access to psychoeducational materials to enhance wellbeing and healing.
“Our project, alongside recent government announcements to force tech companies into doing more to prevent the abuse of children online, shows the level of risk and exploitation facing children and the global need to stop this.
“People that have had their images shared across websites and file sharing platforms are subjected to a unique kind of trauma and exploitation, which is exacerbated by the complete lack of control they have over where that image is being circulated and who is viewing and sharing it.
“Until now, police officers have only been able to deal with the specific example of child abuse material they are investigating. They don’t have the resources to then seek repeat examples of the image and work to take them down.
“The scale of image sharing is huge. One image could potentially be shared millions of times, so ending this cycle, by filling this gap through investigators within the hub, can be hugely beneficially to survivors who are currently being re-traumatised for years.”
Simon Bailey, the Chair of IPPPRI at Anglia Ruskin UniversityProtect Children is a non-profit, non-governmental Helsinki-based organisation working internationally with a dedicated team advocating for the right of the child to be free from sexual violence.
“The ECHO Survivor Hub peer-to-peer support portal was co-created with survivors and informed by Protect Children's global survivor research. It brings together all approaches, tools, and insights I have used with my patients throughout 30 years of working with trauma.”
Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen, Executive Director, Senior Specialist and Psychotherapist at Protect ChildrenThe project is funded by Safe Online and the Graham Dacre Foundation and will now run in the UK for two years before seeking expansion within the UK and globally.
More information on the hub, including details on how victim survivors can access support, can be found at www.echosurvivors.org/