Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation, ICSE, database has announced that ten thousand victims of child sexual abuse have been identified around the world.

Jurgen Stock, INTERPOL Secretary-General, said that the rescue of victims around the world underlined the value of trans-national police cooperation via Interpol’s ICSE) database.

He added, "Interpol is committed to supporting the vital work being done every day around the world by the specialist officers investigating these horrific crimes, but more can still be done. Governments, the private sector and the public also have a role to play in protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities."

"Each and every image of child abuse is evidence of a serious crime, and it is the duty of the police to investigate," said Mick Moran, head of Interpol’s Vulnerable Communities unit which includes the Crimes Against Children section running the ICSE database.

Currently 49 countries are connected to the ICSE database, which enables specialist officers to use sophisticated image and video comparison software to make connections between victims, abusers and locations.