As the internet becomes more and more embedded into the everyday lives of both adults and children, new risks emerge. A recent study found that one in 12 children worldwide have been subjected to online child sexual exploitation or abuse.
This publication from researchers at the Georgia State University School of Public Health and the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute at the University of Edinburgh is set to appear in the February issue of the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. It covered data from 120 studies conducted in 57 countries that were published between 2011 and 2023.
“The risk of online child sexual exploitation and abuse is growing rapidly in tandem with increased access to the internet and smartphones,” said Xiangming Fang, Research Associate Professor in the GSU School of Public Health. “Our study seeks to raise awareness among the public and policymakers and to inform prevention efforts to protect young people.”
According to a 2021 study from Common Sense Media, 8- to 12-year-olds used about five and a half hours of screen media per day and 13- to 18-year-olds used about eight and a half hours of screen media. That study also found that close to one in five tweens said they used social media every day. This year, a poll from the National Parents Union found that 76% of parents of public school students said their child takes their cell phone to school.
Another new study published as access to the popular app TikTok in the U.S. hangs in the balance found that some downloaded the app without permission. Researchers from UC San Francisco found that most 11- and 12-year-olds in the U.S. use TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, even though age restrictions prevent users under 13 from downloading the apps. Their study, published in the journal Academic Pediatrics, found that 6.3% have a social media account they hide from their parents.
In recent years, law enforcement has also reported on cases of widespread child exploitation online. Audacy reported in 2022 that the San Diego Federal Bureau of Investigation office alerted the public to a rise of “sextortion” scams involving young children. Adults have been posing on social media as young girls in attempts to coerce young boys into producing sexual images and videos so they can then extort them for money, the FBI explained.
For the new study, Fang and his colleagues calculated averages for specific subtypes of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. They found an average of 12.5% for unwanted sexual talk; 12.6% for non-consensual taking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and videos; 4.7% for online sexual exploitation and 3.5% for sexual extortion. Using studies that examined three or more subtypes, the researchers calculated an overall prevalence of 8.1%.
“With 8.1% of children globally the victim of sexual exploitation and abuse, we urgently need the online world to have safety built in by design,” said Professor Deborah Fry, Global Director of Data at Childlight. “This must be supported by much more robust regulation of online environments in every country, with improved education for young people and those who care for them. The abuse and exploitation of children is preventable, but action is needed now. Children can’t wait any longer.”
Study authors emphasized that accurate research about the prevalence of child sexual exploitation is important for forging policy going forward. They also acknowledged “that the fast-paced development of social media and other virtual communications enable new types of abuse to emerge, which makes estimating the full extent of online child sexual exploitation and abuse extremely challenging.”