Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute

What Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute does

Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute is a non-profit research organization founded in 2022 and headquartered in Edinburgh at the University of Edinburgh's Moray House School of Education and Sport, with an East Asia & Pacific Hub at the University of New South Wales established in 2024. Established by the Human Dignity Foundation, Childlight's mission is to use data to drive coordinated global action against child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and to be recognized as the leading independent authority for global CSEA data. It serves governments, child protection agencies, researchers, NGOs, legislators, and law enforcement bodies across more than 20 countries.

Childlight's core offerings center on two flagship research outputs: the Into the Light Global Index, which provides the world's first global and regional prevalence estimates of technology-facilitated CSEA using interactive dashboards, systematic literature reviews, and statistical methodologies including Multiple Systems Estimation; and the Searchlight bi-annual flagship report, which investigates the nature and enablers of CSEA through original studies. Supporting programs include the Childlight Technical Advisory Programme (C-TAP), which helps governments in Pakistan, Ghana, and Madagascar unlock and analyze CSEA data from sources including NCMEC's CyberTipline (36 million reports in 2023); the Global Data Fellows Programme, a 12-month fellowship for mid-career child protection professionals; and the Lighthouse learning repository. The organization also co-leads global terminology guidelines for child protection and secured WHO endorsement of the Atlanta Declaration framing CSEA as a preventable global public health emergency.

As a non-profit, Childlight provides all publications, dashboards, and advisory services free of charge. Revenue derives primarily from institutional funding by the Human Dignity Foundation, supplemented by sponsorship of the Global Data Fellows Programme and academic hosting arrangements with the University of Edinburgh and UNSW. The organization reaches audiences through a multi-channel approach including free digital publication, social media, global media briefings reaching over 3.5 billion people for Searchlight 2025, and high-profile conference engagement at venues including the European Parliament, Council of Europe, US Senate, and the Atlanta Global Symposium co-hosted with Emory University and ICMEC.

Name

Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute

Legal name

Childlight

Website

https://childlight.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Childlight is a non-profit global child safety institute that produces the world's first global prevalence estimates of child sexual exploitation and abuse, delivering free data, research, and technical advisory services to governments, researchers, and child protection agencies worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Non-profit Child Safety Research Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Protection & Child Rights (BPAGABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Child Rights & Protection (BPADAGAG), Protection Services (GBV, Child Protection, Legal Aid) (BPADADAH)

Keywords

• Child safety research
• Online child exploitation
• Global child protection
• Prevalence data analytics
• Public health approach

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding: Primary funding from Human Dignity Foundation, with institutional support from University of Edinburgh and University of New South Wales hosting the East Asia & Pacific Hub.
2. Global Data Fellows Programme Sponsorship: The programme accepts sponsors who fund talented individuals to participate in the fellowship, enabling child protection professionals to enhance CSEA expertise and foster global collaboration.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Childlight produces global prevalence estimates of child sexual exploitation and abuse through the Into the Light Global Index and the bi-annual Searchlight research reports, and provides technical advisory support to governments and agencies via C-TAP to analyze and act on CSEA data. The institute also runs the 12-month Global Data Fellows Programme for capacity building and operates a regional research hub at UNSW Sydney covering East Asia and the Pacific.

Product overview

Childlight is a global child safety institute that operates as a data-driven research organization rather than a traditional software product company. The core offering consists of the Into the Light Global Index—a comprehensive prevalence and scale measurement system for child sexual exploitation and abuse—and the Searchlight bi-annual flagship report series examining the nature of CSEA. These are supported by the Childlight Technical Advisory Programme (C-TAP) for in-country technical support, the Global Data Fellows Programme for capacity building, and the East Asia & Pacific Hub for regional research. Lighthouse serves as a learning repository for research insights. All products work together to translate data into actionable evidence for governments and organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Into the Light: Global index providing prevalence estimates of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse
• Childlight Technical Advisory Programme (C-TAP)
• Global Data Fellows Programme
• East Asia & Pacific Hub

Products and services

• Into the Light Global Index World's first global estimates of the prevalence and scale of child sexual exploitation and abuse, including technology-facilitated CSEA (TF-CSEA). Provides interactive dashboard, thematic reports, and regional prevalence data for governments, researchers, and NGOs.
• Searchlight Bi-annual flagship report examining the nature of CSEA through original research studies. Explores emerging risks, enablers, financial networks, and preventive measures for policymakers, law enforcement, and child protection professionals.
• Childlight Technical Advisory Programme (C-TAP) Expert technical advisory service supporting governments, agencies, and frontline responders with tools and knowledge to tackle CSEA. Helps unlock and translate CSEA data including CyberTipline reports to catalyse coordinated action. Pilots conducted in Pakistan, Ghana, and Madagascar.
• Global Data Fellows Programme 12-month fellowship programme bringing together mid-career professionals to strengthen child protection through data and evidence. Includes Edinburgh residency, workshops, research symposium, and publication opportunities.
• East Asia & Pacific Hub Regional research hub at University of New South Wales focusing on technology-enabled child sexual abuse, perpetrator prevalence, and survivor experience research to influence CSEA prevention and response policy in the East Asia & Pacific region.
• Lighthouse Learning log sharing insights and findings from ongoing research and projects to support reproducibility and illuminate a clearer path for others in the child protection field.
• Publications Collection of research publications including Into the Light reports, Searchlight reports, annual reports, and academic papers contributing to global discourse on child protection.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 300 million children affected by TF-CSEA estimated globally through Into the Light Index
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Emory UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-host of the landmark Global Symposium in Atlanta, June 2025, bringing together leaders from public health, policing, technology, and civil society. The conference resulted in the joint Atlanta Declaration calling for CSEA to be recognized as a global public health emergency.
• International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-led the initiative with Childlight at the Atlanta conference resulting in the Atlanta Declaration. ICMEC coordinates global efforts to fight child sexual exploitation and develops technologies and educational resources for child protection.
• Child Rescue CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership to help unlock and analyze previously inaccessible CSEA data. Childlight works with the organization to support governments in improving child protection through better data analysis and technology.
• World Health OrganizationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Endorsed the Atlanta Declaration calling for CSEA to be treated as a global public health emergency. Childlight's research informs WHO's work on CSEA as a public health issue affecting hundreds of millions of children annually.
• University of New South Wales (UNSW)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Host of Childlight's East Asia & Pacific Hub established in 2024 in the School of Social Sciences. Led by Professor Michael Salter, the hub drives research on technology-enabled child sexual abuse, perpetrator prevalence, and survivor experience across the Asia-Pacific region.
• University of EdinburghcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary hosting institution for Childlight's global headquarters. Childlight operates within Moray House School of Education and Sport. The university provides institutional infrastructure, academic oversight, and operates the website and digital systems under University terms and conditions.
• National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)coreTechnology or IntegrationC-TAP programme helps countries access and triage CyberTipline data from NCMEC, where over 36 million reports were filed in 2023. NCMEC provides the primary source of US cyber tip data that countries need support to analyze.
• Internet Watch FoundationcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides CSAM tracking and analysis data included in Into the Light Index. IWF operates Report Remove service for image removal that Childlight tracks as a key indicator in its global CSEA measurement framework.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ECPAT International: Global network of 122 organizations working to end the sexual exploitation of children; much larger and more established than Childlight, with overlapping advocacy, research, and policy influence across child protection.
• INTERPOL Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) Database: International law enforcement body operating global CSEA databases and victim identification; interacts with Childlight through shared law enforcement expertise and overlapping government-facing mission.
• UNICEF Office of Research: UN agency producing global research on child well-being including violence against children; comparable global footprint and child-data authority but with much broader scope than Childlight's CSEA specialization.

Direct peers

• Thorn: US non-profit building technology to defend children from sexual abuse, including tools that help platforms detect CSAM and assist law enforcement; comparable in mission, tech-enabled CSEA response, and global policy engagement.
• Internet Watch Foundation (IWF): UK-based charity that identifies and removes CSAM online; provides data into Childlight's Into the Light Index and operates the Report Remove service tracked by Childlight. Both work on CSEA measurement, content removal, and online child safety indicators.
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): US-based non-profit operating the CyberTipline that Childlight's C-TAP program helps countries access; both organizations focus on child sexual exploitation response and data, making NCMEC the most operationally intertwined peer for Childlight's technical advisory work.
• Child Rescue Coalition: Non-profit that develops technology to help law enforcement identify and rescue children from sexual exploitation; explicit partner of Childlight (partnerships_and_alliances) with overlapping data-and-law-enforcement focus.
• International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC): Global non-profit that coordinates international efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and developed the Model Missing Child Assistance Act; co-led the Atlanta Declaration with Childlight and operates in overlapping global child protection territory with similar multilateral engagement.
• WeProtect Global Alliance: Multi-stakeholder global alliance ending child sexual exploitation online; similarly focused on CSEA policy frameworks, government engagement, and cross-sector collaboration, making it a directly comparable peer.

Emerging players

• Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI): International non-profit promoting online safety for children including policy frameworks and research; comparable scope of online child safety research and policy engagement but focused more broadly than Childlight's CSEA specialization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/childlight_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/childlight

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute