Warning: This episode contains conversations about abuse and exploitation, domestic and family violence and some other topics you may find distressing. If those are difficult topics for you then I suggest skipping this episode and coming back next week. There are a number of resources and support services out there including 1800 Respect, Bravehearts, Lifeline and beyondblue where you can access free counselling in Australia.
Hello and welcome to or welcome back to the Finding Nature podcast. My name is Nathan Robertson-Ball and this is my show where I explore the stories, philosophies and missions of change makers who are looking to bust paradigms and contribute to creating a more healthy, just and beautiful world.
Today's friend of the pod is Anna Bowden and she certainly fits this bill. A career spanning nearly two decades across responsible and impact investing with a focus on delivering meaningful outcomes for the most vulnerable in our society. Her role now as the CEO for the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children Australia - or ICMEC - which entails work exactly as it sounds - the protection and safeguarding of children both here in Australia and overseas.
This episode is one I had a few reservations bringing to you but I took comfort in the knowledge that only ten years ago domestic and family violence was a topic often too taboo and stigmatised to discuss in public - this has changed though there is still much more work to be done. Some of the issues Anna and I discuss today like child sexual exploitation, child sexual abuse materials and sexploitation are pervasive and endemic societal issues for many children and adults in our community, and it feels both right and important to do this despite the awkwardness and discomfort. My ask of you as the listener is to give this a go - it's not easy hearing topics like this, and we all wish we didn't have to not only listen to stories like Anna's but also consider the invitation to begin to play a part in preventing these types of incidents occurring in the future.
Anna shares warmly her own personal lived experience as an abuse survivor, as well as helping me to better understand the convoluted and challenging world that she exists in everyday looking to create and ensure a safer world for kids both here in Australia and overseas. We discuss the emergence of artificial intelligence and how it is accelerating these issues, the ways fear and shame keep this problem field relatively invisible, the importance of collaboration but also the frustration of inertia that sits within the system of actors who do have agency to influence and alter the trajectory of these issues, while knowing that there are accessible actions that can thwart the threats of child exploitation and abuse.
Anna speaks a little about trailblazers in this conversation, those who have lit a path in efforts to raise the profile and significant toll domestic and family violence has had and continues to take on mostly women and children in this country. Anna is a trailblazer in the child protection movement. Recent media stories regarding deep fake nude imagery in schools offers an insight into the tip of the iceberg this issue poses for children, their parents and families, schools and teachers, regulators and law enforcement agencies.
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