1 in 12 children globally exposed to online sexual abuse content

One in 12 children in the world has been exposed to at least one form of online sexual exploitation or abuse, according to new research. 

This refers to online solicitation, online grooming, exposure to pornography, unwanted or 

pressured sexting, image-based abuse, sexual extortion, and sexual exploitation.

“There was a high degree of variation among the studies we examined, but they all point to the fact that the internet has become a crime scene, with children around the world exposed to immeasurable harm,” Xiangming Fang, a research associate professor at Georgia State University and the new study’s corresponding author, told Euronews Next.

“I’m deeply concerned that the risk of online child sexual exploitation and abuse will only grow with greater internet access and smartphone use, particularly in developing nations,” he added. 

Researchers based their findings, which were published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, on multiple databases and studies published between January 2010 and September 2023.

When considering childhood experiences across their lifetimes, the proportion of children reporting online abuse increased to one in six children or 16.6 per cent.

One in eight children reported being a victim of image-based abuse, meaning the non-consensual taking, sharing, and exposure to sexual images and videos, according to the metanalysis.

“These findings highlight the importance of targeted interventions, including education, regulation of online platforms, and improved safety measures to protect children from exploitation and abuse,” Fang said, adding that the non-consensual sharing of sexual images, including deepfakes, has increasingly been reported.

Moreover, one in 28 children has been a victim of sexual extortion, a form of coercion using blackmail, according to the researchers. 

Overall, researchers found no significant differences between the experiences of boys and girls regarding the prevalence.

“Retrospective reporting, combined with respondents’ reluctance to disclose information, might lead to underestimating the prevalence rates,” the authors warned about their estimates.

Sexual exploitation and abuse ‘widespread’

Researchers also said that according to the US-based platform CyberTipline, 

reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation and abuse images and videos increased by 13 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year and increased by 23 per cent compared with 2021.

“This study confirms how widespread online child sexual exploitation and abuse are and the importance of working to prevent harm from happening in the first place,” Sarah Smith, the innovation project lead at child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, told Euronews Next in an email. 

“Every case is a tragedy, and the consequences can be life-changing,” she added.

In the European Union, platforms are required to report online child sexual abuse on their platforms and to alert authorities.

An EU centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse is also expected to be set up. 

“The growing volume of illegal content online is posing greater challenges to the [law enforcement agencies] fighting online child sexual exploitation,” Europol, the EU’s police agency, wrote ina 2024 online organised crime threat assessment.

Smith said tech companies focus on identifying, blocking, reporting and removing the abusive content, which happens “after harm has occurred,” putting the “responsibility onto children to protect themselves”. 

“We’re clear that this isn’t right,” Smith said, adding that the charity is working on a preventivesolution. 

Fang underlined that online sexual abuse “is linked to poorer mental and physical health, reduced employment prospects and lower life expectancy”.

“While the scale of the problem can seem overwhelming, [online child sexual exploitation and abuse] is preventable, not inevitable if we adopt a prevention-focused public health approach, which has proved effective in tackling other pandemics,” Fang said.