More than 20 million children aged between 12 and 17 across 21 countries—equivalent to one in five children—have experienced technology-facilitated sexual abuse or exploitation within a year, according to a new report released by UNICEF.
The report, titled ‘Through Children’s Eyes’, found that more than 15 million children had been exposed to unwanted sexual content, while 9 million had been pressured into unwanted sexual conversations.
In addition, the private sexual images of nearly 4 million children had reportedly been shared online without their consent.
The report noted that the actual scale of the problem could be significantly higher, as many children are reluctant to report such experiences.
Nearly 60 per cent of the incidents occurred through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp, while 14 per cent took place through online gaming environments.
A notable finding was that 57 per cent of incidents involved peers, friends or family members already known to the child.
The experiences have had a severe impact on children's mental health. The analysis found that children who experienced such abuse were four times more likely than other children to report suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviour.
However, more than 40 per cent of abuse incidents had not been shared with anyone, while fewer than one per cent had been reported to authorities.
UNICEF stressed the urgent need to design safer digital platforms, strengthen legal frameworks and build trusted support systems to protect children in the digital age.
