One in five children in 21 nations faced tech-facilitated sexual abuse: UNICEF

About 20 million children aged 12 to 17 – one in five across 21 countries – were sexually exploited by perpetrators using technology such as social media, according to a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report released on Thursday.

More than 15 million children in this age group were exposed to unwanted sexual content, nine million were asked to engage in sexual conversations or share sexual images against their will and four million had sexual images of themselves shared without their consent.

UNICEF said the total figures are likely much higher.

“The report reveals a painful reality,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “More than 20 million children across the countries studied were subjected to unwanted explicit sexual content or exploitation online, often in the digital spaces where they learn, play and connect with friends.”

Nearly 60 per cent of all recorded instances of exploitation in the report occurred on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp, and 14 per cent happened on online games, with the platforms’ features often used to exploit trust.

Some 38 per cent of children first encountered the perpetrators online, and evidence shows abuse is often facilitated through intentional features that allow perpetrators to hide their identities.

In Montenegro, more than 80 per cent of reported cases involved social media.

Across the 21 countries, 57 per cent of exploitation cases involved perpetrators the children knew, including peers, friends and family.

In interviews with researchers, children who endured sexual exploitation described impacts on their emotional wellbeing, sense of safety and trust in others, including fear, shame, confusion and isolation.