The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), conducted a four-day Victim-Centered Interviewing (VCI) training for members of the Indonesian National Police from 2–5 March 2026 in Jakarta. The program brought together investigators from cybercrime units, Women and Children Protection (PPA) units, and national police training institutions to strengthen investigative practices involving victims of child sexual abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and other forms of gender-based violence. The training emphasized trauma-informed investigative approaches, ethical interviewing techniques, and the importance of protecting victims’ dignity and psychological well-being during investigations. Sessions addressed emerging online exploitation trends, legal frameworks governing child protection, trauma impacts on victims, evidentiary processes, and multi-agency cooperation mechanisms necessary to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes involving child sexual exploitation and abuse.
International expert Lance Lueck, representing the Southeast Asia Team Eliminating Child Trafficking (SEATECT) and Rotary Action Group Against Slavery (RAGAS), delivered three instructional sessions focused on victim identification, a critical early step in trafficking and child exploitation investigations. The sessions addressed the importance of rapid and accurate identification of victims, practical indicators used to recognize victims of child sexual abuse and trafficking, and the distinctions between behavioral, emotional, and physical indicators investigators may encounter. Participants also discussed the challenge that many victims do not initially self-identify during police encounters and examined practical approaches for recognizing those indicators in real investigative situations. The instruction included a case-study-based discussion in which participants shared examples from their own experience and applied victim identification concepts to strengthen investigative awareness and practice.
