As online platforms play a bigger role in children’s daily lives, so do the risks – from grooming and coercion to the spread of exploitative content. Child sexual abuse and trafficking are on the rise globally, with law enforcement and support organisations often struggling to keep up.
In response, the EU is backing cross-border initiatives to address the problem and better protect children.
One such initiative, aptly named HEROES, united researchers, NGOs and law enforcement agencies from 17 countries across Europe, South America and Asia.
From 2021 to 2024, the network explored cutting-edge technologies and strategies to fight child sexual abuse and trafficking. It created a suite of tools to detect, prevent and respond to abuse more effectively.
Protecting the vulnerable
The story of Gloria (name changed), a young girl from Latin America, shows the scale of the challenge and the power of coordinated action.
Just before her 15th birthday – her quinceañera – Gloria attempted to take her own life during a school trip. Quick intervention saved her, and the reason soon became clear.
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Although HEROES was a scientific project, our main focus was on the social impact.
“She had been manipulated online for over a year,” said Pilar Ramírez, vice president of national capacity building at the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), a HEROES partner based in Switzerland and operating globally.
“It started with someone she met on TikTok, who she believed was a local boy. He gained her trust, and she sent him intimate images, and then he began to threaten her, demanding more. He said releasing them would be his ‘gift’ for her birthday.”
Gloria’s mother contacted the police, who turned to ICMEC and the HEROES network.
“Thanks to this international collaboration, the police were very quickly able to determine that the aggressor lived in Spain. Within just two days, they had found his house and arrested him,” said Ramírez.
Gloria’s case is just one example of how international cooperation and innovative tools can make a life-changing difference for victims.
AI against abuse
The HEROES network brought together psychologists, lawyers, health professionals, software developers and digital forensics experts united around a common goal: to prevent these crimes, support victims and bring offenders to justice.
Professor Luis Javier García Villalba, an expert on digital forensics, cybersecurity and AI-based tools at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), coordinated the work of the international team.
“Although HEROES was a scientific project, our main focus was on the social impact,” he said. “We always started by asking law enforcement and NGOs what they really needed.”
García Villalba’s team developed powerful AI tools to support investigations and assist victims.
“It was important to show law enforcement and NGOs what technology could do for them,” said Ana Lucila Sandoval Orozco, a researcher at UCM’s Department of Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence who worked closely with García Villalba.
One standout tool is AGAPP, an AI-based mobile app that detects grooming and harmful content in messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.
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The first contact with a victim can change everything.
“It alerts the child’s guardian and blocks the material, helping to protect the child and enabling a police report,” she explained.
Other tools developed include a fake job offer detector (INDOOR) to combat trafficking, apps for anonymous reporting of abuse, as well as software that helps police to identify altered or hidden illegal content, scan seized devices and monitor harmful activity online – all with greater speed and precision.
By automating time-consuming tasks and improving cross-border cooperation, these tools significantly strengthen the capacity of police and child protection services.
In a fast-moving digital world where abuse can spread rapidly and often anonymously, such technologies play a vital role in closing the gap between online crime and justice, helping authorities respond faster, build stronger cases, and ultimately prevent abuse before it happens.
Better support to victims
But stopping criminals is only half the battle. The HEROES team also focused on helping victims recover. Tools and protocols were developed to guide first responders, improve police-psychologist collaboration and make legal proceedings less traumatic for victims.
Free online training was also made available to help transport workers and other professionals recognise signs of abuse and trafficking and know how and when to intervene. One key element is making sure the right kind of support is available when it is needed the most.
“The first contact with a victim can change everything,” said Ramírez, speaking from experience. “Either they feel safe to share, or they can shut down and blame themselves. That’s why training first responders is so important.”
Ramírez is enthusiastic about the network’s achievements and keen to see the new tools being widely used. The rollout to law enforcement and other stakeholders is expected to take place in 2025.
As Ramírez pointed out, the HEROES initiative has also significantly improved the coordination between different actors, such as law enforcement agencies, NGOs and judicial services. This has made the help given more effective and reduced further traumatisation of victims.
“Thanks to the network, we are able to contact and support each other in providing the best help to victims,” said Ramírez. “What we need to do, first and foremost, is to protect the children.”
Research in this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.
