Online child sexual abuse: what children experience in the face of new technologies

A report published by UNICEF compiled the experiences of children who suffered sexual abuse through digital technologies. Their testimonies shed light on a problem that occurs on the platforms they use every day and that often remains hidden. Over the course of a year, the study gathered data and experiences showing how this abuse can occur both with people they know and with people they first came into contact with over the internet.

How does online child sexual abuse happen?

What is striking is that less than 1% of the victims had contacted the police, a social worker or any support service. Four out of ten did not reach out to anyone. This is worrying because, according to the same report, those who suffered this type of abuse are four times more likely to show suicidal thoughts and behaviors and to self-harm. In addition, they show anxiety levels 11% higher than other children.

There are different ways in which digital tools and platforms are used to expose children to sexual content, to solicit this type of content from them, and to coerce or extort them. There are even people who share content featuring children, which can extend the reach of child sexual abuse and make it easier for it to continue both online and offline.

There is a project called Disrupting Harm, carried out jointly by UNICEF, ECPAT International and INTERPOL. As part of this project, surveys were conducted with nearly 21,000 internet-using children aged 12 to 17 in 21 countries on different continents. In-depth interviews were also conducted with more than 100 young people who suffered technology-facilitated sexual abuse and with more than 500 professionals from law enforcement and other fields involved in handling these cases. The data provided make it possible to see the problem from the perspective of the children themselves, although they represent only part of a much broader reality, since an estimated 20 million children who use the internet have been affected.

The data collected reveal that 4 million young people were victims of the dissemination of images of themselves without their consent, and almost 60% of these cases took place on social media, while 14% occurred in online games. The platforms that recorded the most cases were Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Abusers use the features of digital platforms to take advantage of children’s trust: they can send them unwanted messages, create fake profiles and use different strategies to approach them and harm them.

Abuse also differs by gender

There are also gender-related issues that can be used to silence victims. In the case of girls, abusers use stigma and guilt about the abuse to silence them. In the case of boys, they can take advantage of the fact that these situations tend to be minimized and, if that does not work, threaten to reveal or falsely insinuate their sexual orientation.

The responsibility cannot fall on children

Children are not simply defenseless victims in the face of these risks. The report shows that they often develop strategies to protect themselves: they block abusers, avoid certain spaces and help one another. But that ability to react should not mean that the entire responsibility for protecting themselves falls on them.

Platforms also bear responsibility. Their design should prioritize children’s safety and not simply seek to keep them connected for longer. This means improving privacy, limiting unwanted contact and more effectively detecting content that may be linked to abuse. At the same time, governments and regulatory bodies must establish and enforce rules that make it possible to hold companies accountable.

But protection cannot be left solely in the hands of technology either. Schools, families and society must support children without making them feel responsible for what happens. When a child says they have suffered abuse, they need to find adults who will listen to them and believe them, not blame them or impose restrictions on them. Those who suffer abuse are not to blame for what happened.

Children have the right to use the internet without having to bear the responsibility of protecting themselves alone. Listening to what they have to say and taking steps so that they can be safe is also the task of adults, institutions and the platforms that are part of their daily lives.