ABSTRACT
Perpetrators financially coerce children to ‘self-produce’ child sexual exploitation material (CSEM). A harmful dominant narrative has historically blamed victims by framing this form of child sexual exploitation as ‘children engaging in sex work’ obfuscating the tactics of perpetrators. There is limited evidence about the way professionals who support these children construct accountability. This study aimed to explore professionals’ constructions of accountability when supporting victims of financially coerced ‘self-produced’ child sexual exploitation material. Participants (n = 21) were professionals from statutory child protection (n = 10), out-of-home care (n = 10) and police (n = 1) employed in Victoria, Australia. In-depth 1-h interviews generated data that were inductively thematically analysed, and a narrative lens was then applied. Six categories of accountability were identified that pointed to perpetrator accountability as a counter narrative supported by the majority of professionals. However, professionals ‘slipped’ back to a victim-blaming narrative at times and also ‘lurched forward’ towards narratives that held other entities to account, such as Big Tech. These slippages—both forward and backwards—are discussed in terms of recognizing narratives of accountability that offer opportunities to progress CSE responses, conceptualizing a multi-agency stakeholder response group broader than traditional child protection workers and police, as well as opportunities to challenge inaccurate assumptions about financially coerced CSEM.