In 2017, the ASEAN Declaration on the Culture of Prevention for a Peaceful, Inclusive, Resilient, Healthy and Harmonious Society was adopted. The ASEAN Culture of Prevention (CoP) aims to promote preventative approaches across the work of ASEAN pillars, ASEAN Sectoral Bodies (ASB), and ASEAN Member States (AMS).

However, among the potential barriers to implementation has been the lack of targeted and clear evidence of the benefits and promising results of a preventive approach to inform policy makers. In order to accelerate the implementation of ASEAN’s Declaration on CoP, Australia agreed, through the ASEAN-Australia Political Security Partnership (APSP), to support a study to collect evidence of action taken expressly to prevent the recruitment of children into online pornography and exploitation. By presenting practical examples of how this approach can be put into practice, a study would give meaning and context to the CoP and encourage AMS and ASB to support the concept beyond agreeing to its general principles. The study would also recommend activities the ASEAN Working Group on CoP could undertake to address and prevent OSAEC, consistent with the ASEAN Plan of Action on CoP, specifically Thrust 2: A Culture of Respect for All and Thrust 6: A Culture of Supporting the Values of Moderation.