Over 300 Million Children are Victims of Online Sexual Exploitation

(Childlight Global Child Safety Institute Infographic Photo)

• ONE IN EIGHT CHILDREN GLOBALLY FACE HARM
• 14 MILLION USA OFFENDERS – ENOUGH TO FILL SUPER BOWL STADIUM 200 TIMES OVER
• ONE IN FOUR USA CHILDREN ARE VICTIMS
• SURVIVORS, INCLUDING SINGER GLORIA ESTEFAN, DEMAND ACTION
• ONE CASE OF HARMFUL FILES REPORTED EVERY SECOND
• INTERPOL WARNS OF “CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER” TO CHILDREN
• CALLS TO TREAT “HIDDEN PANDEMIC” AS GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY LIKE COVID-19

LONDON, May 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — More than 300 million children are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse annually, according to the first global estimate of this crisis. With sexual images of minors reported every second, authors said children worldwide are suffering from this “hidden pandemic.”

The report by Childlight Global Child Safety Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, indicates the United States is high-risk.

It estimates that 12.6% of the world’s children have experienced past year non-consensual exposure to sexual images and videos, affecting about 302 million young people. Additionally, 12.5% of children globally have been subjected to online solicitation, such as unwanted sexual talk and non-consensual sexting.

Offences include “sextortion” and the use of AI deepfake technology to create false sexual images. Survivors of abuse say the findings highlight the need for stronger regulation to hold social media platforms accountable, especially as end-to-end encryption makes offenders harder to detect.

The report indicates the USA has enough male offenders (14 million) to fill a Super Bowl stadium 200 times over, with one in nine men admitting to online sexual offending against children. Surveys found 7% of men in the UK and 7.5% in Australia admit the same. North America and Western Europe are hotspots, with 23% of children in the USA and 19.9% in Europe experiencing past year non-consensual exposure to sexual images and videos. Meanwhile, in the USA alone, over 1.1 million cases of files containing sexual images of children were among 36 million reported by US-based NCMEC last year.

Coco Lammers of US-based Childfund International urged the USA to show leadership, as part of a worldwide drive to improve online safety: “So many children of all ages, nationalities, religions, and cultures suffer from sexual exploitation and abuse. Childlight’s findings underline why we need a global response to the problem.”

Grammy award-winning singer Gloria Estefan, who survived childhood abuse, wants “concrete steps” at an intergovernmental summit in Colombia in November. In a new message for survivor group Brave Movement, she said: “As someone who survived sexual abuse by my music teacher as a child, I know too well the lifelong impact and deep challenges that experiencing violence at a young age can impose from childhood into adulthood.”

She added: “We need concrete steps to safeguard our children and ensure their future. Let’s commit to a world where every child and adolescent is safe, supported, thriving and loved.”

Childlight CEO Paul Stanfield called for the “staggering” problem to be treated as a global health emergency like COVID-19 and for tech companies to prioritise child safety over offenders’ privacy and corporate profit. “This is a global health pandemic that has remained hidden for far too long. It occurs in every country, is growing exponentially, and requires a global response. We need to act urgently and treat it as a public health issue that can be prevented,” he said.

Interpol’s executive director, Stephen Kavanagh, said: “Online exploitation and abuse is a clear and present danger to the world’s children, and traditional law enforcement approaches are struggling to keep up. We must do much more together at a global level.”

Welcoming the report, survivor and activist Grace Tame, who leads the Grace Tame Foundation, said: “Like countless child sexual abuse victim-survivors, my life was completely upended by the lasting impacts of trauma, shame, public humiliation, ignorance, and stigma. A centralised global research database is essential to safeguarding children.”

Childlight’s report, based on original research and analysis of 125 studies and over 36 million reports to main watchdog organisations, reveals:

• The Middle East and North Africa have the highest Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) alerts per capita.
• North America and Western Europe also report high rates of CSAM.
• Eastern and Southern Africa report the highest online solicitation rates, with significant past-year experiences of online sexual extortion.
• Eastern Europe and Central Asia have high rates of non-consensual exposure to sexual images and videos, second only to North America.

If you or someone you know needs support for child sexual exploitation and abuse, or if you’re concerned you might hurt a child, please visit Child Helpline International or brave movement or Stop it now