A new UNICEF report has revealed a disturbing scale of online sexual abuse involving children, with an estimated 20 million internet-using children aged 12 to 17 across 21 countries experiencing at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse in a single year.
The figure, contained in UNICEF’s latest report, Through Children’s Eyes: How Digital Technologies Enable Child Sexual Abuse, represents almost one in five children surveyed across the countries studied.
The report was based on nationally representative surveys involving approximately 21,000 internet-using children aged 12 to 17, alongside interviews with young people who experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The research covered countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe.
UNICEF estimated that more than 15 million children were exposed to unwanted sexual content, while about nine million were pressured into sexual conversations or forced to share sexual images.
Another four million children reportedly had sexual images of themselves shared without their consent.
The findings also revealed that social media platforms have become a major avenue for such abuse. Nearly 60 per cent of reported cases occurred on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp, while 14 per cent occurred through online gaming.
Contrary to the perception that online child sexual abuse is mostly committed by complete strangers, UNICEF found that 57 per cent of cases involved someone the child already knew, including friends, romantic partners, peers or family members.
However, 38 per cent of children said they first encountered the perpetrator online.
Perhaps even more alarming is the low rate of reporting. UNICEF said less than one per cent of the experiences were reported to authorities, with many children suffering in silence because they did not know where to seek help or feared the consequences of speaking out.
The report also raised concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence in sexual exploitation. Across nine countries where relevant data was collected, an estimated 1.1 million children reported having AI-generated sexual images or videos created depicting them.
UNICEF warned that the consequences can be devastating, with children who experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation reporting significantly higher levels of anxiety and being around four times more likely to report suicidal thoughts or self-harm than their peers.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for stronger safeguards on digital platforms, improved reporting mechanisms and updated laws capable of addressing emerging forms of online abuse.
The organisation also urged governments, technology companies and other stakeholders to do more to ensure that children can learn, play and interact online without being exposed to sexual exploitation and abuse.
