This archive report was first published on 9 November 2019.
Millions of photos and videos of children being sexually abused exist on various platforms, including Dropbox and Facebook Messenger, for criminals worldwide to access. An investigation by The New York Times found that the technology industry has consistently failed to take coordinated steps to shut down the illegal content.
Two sisters, now 17 and 21, were sexually abused by their father when they were 7 and 11. The younger sister, F., was drugged and raped by him and another man, and the imagery continues to circulate on the web. This year alone, photos and videos of the sisters were found in over 130 child sexual abuse investigations involving mobile phones, computers, and cloud storage accounts.
The sisters, identified by their first initials, F. and E., shared their experiences in recorded conversations with The Times. They expressed their concerns about online child sexual abuse and the ongoing trauma caused by the circulation of explicit images.
‘It’s more than just images,’ said E. ‘When I’m in public with my little sister and I see some man looking at her, that is one of the first things I think about. You’re always worried.’
‘People think I’m really fragile,’ said F. ‘I try to let people know that I went through that. I would love to speak out about it. We’re out of sight, out of mind. If it can help other people, and if I can talk to other victims and help them feel better, that’s all I want.’
