Child Protection

With the launch of the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) in March 2017, the RCIPS has renewed its partnerships in the area of child protection and strengthened its capacities to investigate offenders and safeguard children from exploitation and abuse. Officers with the MASH make frequent appearances in the media and at local awareness-raising events in order to increase general public understanding of these issues.  The partnerships listed below work toward improving child protection both in a child's regular environment and online.

Protection Starts Here is a project started by the Cayman Islands Red Cross in 2012 to raise awareness in the Cayman Islands about child sexual abuse, and has grown to include several governmental and non-profit partners in its outreach and awareness-raising activities. The RCIPS has also joined the ranks of these partners, with representatives from the Family Support Unit making regular media appearances to discuss different aspects of child protection both at home, at school and online. 

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is UK-based independent non-profit organization that works with the global internet industry, international law enforcement, and the European Commission to combat online child sexual abuse content. When such content is reported to the IWF through any of the IWF portals available on various law enforcement, government or private sector websites (such as the IWF button on the RCIPS website), analysts at the IWF headquarters in the UK examine the content in order to pinpoint where the content originated and contact internet service providers to remove the content, while also alerting local law enforcement in that jurisdiction. The RCIPS as well as police from all other UKOTs began working with the IWF in 2016.