More than 300 million children are victims of online sexual abuse every year - study
Kyiv • UNN
More than 300 million children are victims of online sexual abuse every year, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh.
On the Internet, more than 300 million children become victims of sexualized violence every year. This is reported by The Guardian, citing researchers at the University of Edinburgh, UNN reports .
Details
Experts have found that 12.6% of children in the world (about 302 million people) have been victims of sharing sexual images and videos over the past year. A similar proportion - 12.5% - have been subjected to online harassment. This refers to conversations with sexual overtones, including sexting, sexual questions, or requests for sexual acts by adults.
A study by the Childlight University Initiative found that one in nine men in the United States (about 14 million people) has admitted to committing online child abuse at some point. 7% of British men, equivalent to 1.8 million, have admitted the same. According to the study, some men admitted that they are ready to commit physical sexual crimes against children if they are sure that it will remain secret.
This is a staggering scale, which in the UK alone equates to a queue of male offenders that could fill Wembley Stadium 20 times over. Child abuse material is so widespread that on average, files are being received by supervisory and police organizations every second. This is a global pandemic that has remained hidden for too long. It occurs in every country, is growing exponentially, and requires a global response. We must act now and treat it as a preventable public health problem. Children cannot wait,
