"Global pandemic"

One in eight children is sexually exploited online

One in eight children worldwide is a victim of online sexual abuse. In 2023, around 302 million children and young people were sexually exploited online, according to a study published on Monday by the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute at the University of Edinburgh. 

This includes the creation and dissemination of photos and videos with sexual content, online blackmail with sexually explicit images and AI for fake photos and videos. According to the study, the problem is widespread worldwide, with the USA being particularly affected. According to the study, one in nine men there admitted to having sexually abused children online.

"Global pandemic"
Recordings of child sexual abuse are so widespread that, on average, new cases are reported to the authorities and aid organizations every second, explained Paul Stanfield from Childlight. It is a "global pandemic" that requires a global response.

Only recently, for example, the British police reported criminal gangs from West Africa and South East Asia blackmailing British young people online. The blackmailers pretend to be teenagers and get their victims to send intimate images of themselves. They then demand money and threaten to publish the recordings.