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United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that nearly 20 million children faced technology-facilitated sexual abuse across 21 countries in one year.
According to a report UNICEF released on Thursday, the figure represents almost one in five children aged 12 to 17 surveyed across the countries.
The report, Through Children’s Eyes: How Digital Technologies Enable Child Sexual Abuse, combines children’s testimonies with available survey data on online sexual exploitation.
It estimates that more than 15 million children were exposed to unwanted sexual content, while nine million were pressured into sexual conversations or sharing sexual images.
Another four million children had sexual images of themselves shared without their consent.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the findings showed the scale of abuse children face in digital spaces.
“The report reveals a painful reality. More than 20 million children across the countries studied were subjected to unwanted explicit sexual content or exploitation online,” Russell said.
The report found that nearly 60 percent of cases occurred on mainstream social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp.
About 14 percent of cases occurred through online games, with platform features and private messaging being used to exploit children’s trust.
The findings also challenge the belief that online abuse is mainly committed by strangers.
About 57 percent of cases involved someone the child already knew, including peers, romantic partners, friends or family members.
Meanwhile, 38 percent of children first encountered their perpetrators online, with fake accounts and private messaging among the tools used to facilitate abuse.
The report said the abuse had serious effects on children’s emotional well-being, with victims reporting fear, shame, confusion and isolation.
Children who experienced technology-facilitated abuse were four times more likely to report suicidal thoughts or behaviours and self-harm.
In Mexico and North Macedonia, the risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviours was more than eight times higher among affected children.
In Pakistan, the risk of self-harm was more than seven times higher.
UNICEF also found that more than 40 percent of cases were never shared with anyone, while fewer than one per cent were reported to authorities.
The most common reason children remained silent was not knowing where to seek help or whom to tell.
UNICEF has called for urgent action from governments, technology companies and other stakeholders to make digital platforms safer for children.
The agency urged stronger privacy protections, restrictions on unsolicited contact from adults, safer recommendation systems and improved detection and reporting of abuse.
