Maggie Brennan

Dr Maggie Brennan is an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at Dublin City University. Her work spans over 20 years of multidisciplinary research and policy initiatives to combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA), collaborating with NGOs like the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, law enforcement agencies such as Interpol, cross-government forums like the G7, and social media companies. She co-founded CyberSafeKids and the International Working Group for the Prevention of Online Sex Offending (IWG_OSO).

Her research focuses on the role of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Material (CSAEM) and online technologies in offending processes, victim impacts, and developing solutions for: detection/disruption of OCSEA via tools like online risk assessment and case prioritization; improving victim responses; and enhancing prevention strategies. She has led international projects, including a global analysis of Interpol's CSAEM database with ECPAT International and AI-driven collaborations in Europe and ASEAN to combat OCSEA. Currently, she is Principal Investigator on an End Violence Against Children (EVAC)-funded project in the Philippines.

Maggie has published two books examining technology's role in child protection, youth sexting, and non-consensual intimate image sharing. She advocates for systemic prevention of online child sexual offending. At DCU, she teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate programs, including the Psychology of Disruptive Technologies and Psychology and Mathematics modules.

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy