More than 300 million children annually fall victim to online sexual exploitation and abuse, as indicated by the first global estimate of the problem’s scale published on Monday.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh revealed that one in eight children worldwide has suffered from non-consensual taking, sharing, and exposure to sexual images and videos in the past year.
This equates to approximately 302 million children, according to the university’s Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, which conducted the study.
A similar number of solicitation cases, including unwanted sexting and requests for sexual acts by both adults and peers, were also reported.
Offenses range from sextortion, where perpetrators demand money to keep images private, to the misuse of AI technology to create deepfake videos and pictures.
Study shows U.S. as high-risk area for online offenses against children
While the issue is global, the research highlights that the United States is a particularly high-risk area, with one in nine men admitting to online offenses against children at some point.
“Child abuse material is so prevalent that files are on average reported to watchdogs and policing organizations once every second,” stated Childlight chief executive Paul Stanfield.
“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,” he added.
This report follows a warning from UK police last month about criminal gangs in West Africa and Southeast Asia targeting British teenagers in sextortion scams online.
Cases—particularly against teenage boys—are increasing worldwide, according to NGOs and police.
Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) issued an alert to hundreds of thousands of teachers, advising them to be aware of the potential threats their students might face.
Scammers often pose as young people on social media, then move to encrypted messaging apps, encouraging victims to share intimate images.
They typically make blackmail demands within an hour of initial contact and are driven by the desire to extort as much money as possible rather than seeking sexual gratification, the NCA reported.
