Michael Salter

Neither suicide prevention policy, nor efforts to prevent gender-based violence, will be effective if they sideline childhood sexual trauma and its downstream impacts on mental health and adult victimisation and perpetration.

Our message is simple: Child sexual abuse is sexual violence. And, when it occurs in the family, it is family violence.

Research evidence shows that:

- CSA is one of the main drivers of suicide in the country
- CSA is associated with later victimisation and perpetration, increasing suicide risk

The @childlightgcsi.bsky.social East Asia and Pacific Hub at UNSW have made a submission to the Senate Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence and suicide. You can access the submission here:

www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...

Another instance of minimising. Some estimates are as high as 1 in 4 children for a largely hidden and underreported crime. Not remotely niche.

So frustrating. But it happens all the time

Had a grants body describe child sexual abuse material as a “niche” issue not worthy of research funding.

20% of people charged with a sex offence in Australia are charged with a CSAM offence. It’s more common than image-related offences against adults. But doesn’t get a fraction of the attention.

Epstein Family Values • EQUATOR The billionaire patriarchs of the American far-right want to rule an economy of masters and servants

Remarkable piece by @melindacooper.bsky.social for @equatormag.bsky.social

www.equator.org/articles/eps...

The absence of gender analysis in discussion of the "New Gilded Age" has been striking. We'll be doing our part to remedy that here.

The nature of evil, abuse and forgiveness - ABC listen If forgiveness is a gift to yourself, what do you give when the harm is unforgiveable?  And it’s hard to believe, but some families endure unspeakable harm and somehow remain intact, while others fra...

Really enjoyed joining Dr Karen Peck and James Carleton on ABC’s God Forbid to explore the nature of good, evil and everything in between — from the reality of suffering and trauma to questions of forgiveness, redemption and human complexity. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Opinion | The Infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein’s Power

The Infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein’s Power www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/o...

The Epstein Files and the Hidden World of an Unaccountable Elite

The Epstein Files and the Hidden World of an Unaccountable Elite www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u...

A good move. Less of the stupidity of incidents where people like George Pell get a sterling character reference from the likes of Johnny Howard. Meaningless in reality, just intimidating victims. #SexualAbuse #CSA #Auspol

‘Good character’ references to be abolished during sentencing in NSW A report handed down last year recommending the change found positive character references were most likely to be used by those with privilege, status and wealth.

Congrats to Harri and Jarad from Your Reference Ain’t Relevant - good character references to be abolished at sentencing in NSW www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw...

What It’s Like to Live With One of Psychiatry’s Most Misunderstood Diagnoses

A moving portrait of my @ISSTD colleague Dr Milissa Kaufman, whose experience of dissociative identity disorder shaped her own path to psychiatry where she is now a world leading expert on the condition www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/m...

Tech Won’t Save Us is back from a holiday break — and that means it’s time to set the stage for the year ahead!

This week @parismarx.com lays out his big focuses for this year: digital sovereignty and rethinking the tech we personally depend on.

Full ep: techwontsave.us/episode/311_...

Without question, there are children being abused, exploited and extorted today who would previously have been protected - Meta knew about the impact on child protection but pushed ahead with encryption anyway.

Meta kicks 550,000 children off platforms to comply with social media ban More than half a million Australian children have been kicked off Facebook and Instagram by Meta to comply with Australia's social media ban for under-16s.

The hypocrisy of Meta lecturing the Australian govt on online safety is staggering - in the same year that the encryption of Facebook Messenger has resulted in an unprecedented drop in online child sexual abuse notifications. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Investigation into X Internet Unlimited Company and its compliance with duties to protect its users from illegal content and child users from harmful content

OFCOM - Investigation into X Internet Unlimited Company and its compliance with duties to protect its users from illegal content and child users from harmful content
www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

Malaysia and Indonesia block X over failure to curb deepfake smut PLUS: Cambodia arrests alleged scam camp boss; Baidu spins out chip biz; Panasonic’s noodle shop plan; And more! Asia in Brief  The governments of Malaysia and Indonesia have suspended access to social network X, on grounds that it allows users to produce sexual imagery without users’ consent.…

Malaysia and Indonesia block X over failure to curb deepfake smut

Child sexual abuse material of the most egregious type has been widely distributed on social media sites since their development 20 years ago.

Musk’s public apathy about Grok’s illegal output has been the private attitude of tech CEOs for decades.

More on this.

X has now limited the use of AI image function to those who pay a monthly fee, a change dubbed by Downing Street as "insulting" to victims of sexual violence.

Musk says X outcry is 'excuse for censorship'

Child sexual abuse material survivors and the politics of abandonment - Transforming Society Michael Salter discusses how survivors of child sexual abuse material remain among the internet’s most neglected victims, enduring lifelong violations while tech companies and governments prioritize…

@mike-salter.bsky.social discusses how survivors of #ChildSexualAbuse material remain among the internet’s most neglected victims, enduring lifelong violations while tech companies and governments prioritise digital freedom over their safety and justice: buff.ly/vTM0AzM

The funders of the Tor Project have their heads in the sand. Many internet platforms are used by perpetrators of child sexual exploitation, but the Tor Project stands alone in its extremist views and management.

“The Tor Project stands alone in its extremist views and management: what internet platform does less to secure the human rights owed to children to be free from sexual exploitation?” www.linkedin.com/pulse/funder...

Is Australia doing enough to prevent the next child abuse crisis? - ABC Religion & Ethics Revelations of sexual abuse in childcare centres have shocked Australia and prompted long overdue reforms — but while these changes are needed, there is much more to do given the scale of the problem ...

My op ed co-authored with Matt Tyler - Australia stands at a critical juncture: will we do what’s needed to prevent an impending child sexual abuse crisis? www.abc.net.au/religion/aus...

CSAM distribution on Tor is not inevitable; The network’s creators have the power to act Why has the Canadian Centre for Child Protection been notifying the organization behind the “Dark web” of the mass distribution of child sexual abuse material on their network?

An important explainer from @cdnchildprotect.bsky.social Director of Tech Lloyd Richardson on the role of the Tor Project in facilitating the mass sexual abuse and exploitation of children protectchildren.ca/en/press-and...

Privacy at a cost: the dark web’s main browser helps pedophile networks flourish, experts say The Tor network’s privacy architecture creates a safe haven for predators to share child sexual abuse material

Finally - mainstream media coverage of the massive child sex offender communities on Tor, and the role of the Tor Project in facilitating the distribution of child sexual abuse material
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Spotlight on childcare reforms reveals how far there is to go Australia's long overdue reforms to improve safety across the nation's childcare centres are a start but still a long way off best practice compared to other countries, writes Conor Duffy.

Australia's #Childcare safety reforms are the 'bare minimum' parents should expect and reveal just how poor regulation has been

#ChildSafety #ChildProtection #Safeguarding
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

‘Now that I know, what do I do?’ The terrible question of how and when to tell a small child about abuse Common wisdom is that we don’t have memories before about the age of four. So what do parents do when a young child has been the victim of abuse?

UNSW Childlight Hub deputy Dr Delanie Woodlock quoted in this article on what to tell kids who were sexually abused as infants - she points out that the abuse of babies has been overlooked, but the digital evidence shows they are being targeted for exploitation www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

I’m supervising Nicolette Bell’s honours project on sexual wellbeing amongst Australian women who have survived child sexual abuse.

If you are a woman, in Australia, who has experienced child sexual abuse, please consider filling out this 15 minute survey: unsw.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Kate Price has memories of being horribly abused as a child. Would anyone else remember? The 52-year-old has memories of being abused as a young child. For half her life she’s been searching for evidence that would persuade people to believe her.

Kate previously told her story in this Pulitzer nominated piece by Janelle Nanos apps.bostonglobe.com/magazine/202...