Woodkirk Stone
Cape Town – In the past two years, reporting of online child sexual exploitation and abuse has reached its highest levels, with the Covid-19 pandemic a huge factor contributing to the surge in reported incidents .
That’s according to WeProtect Global Alliance which released its 2021 Global Threat Assessment earlier this week.
The report says the scale is unprecedented, with over 3 million accounts registered on the 10 most dangerous child sexual abuse sites on the dark web.
In May 2021, Europol took down a dark web child abuse site with over 400,000 registered users.
The US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) handles 60,000 reports of child sexual abuse online every day.
Online sexual exploitation of children in South Africa
Unicef ​​South Africa and the Department of Social Development asked the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) at the University of South Africa (Unisa) to conduct a survey earlier this year which found that a thirds of children in South Africa are exposed to online violence. , exploitation and abuse.
He also revealed that 70% of children surveyed use the Internet without parental consent.
In total, 25% of respondents confirmed that they added people they had never met in person to their friends or contacts list and 18% sent a photo or video of themselves to a someone they’ve never met in person. face.
A total of 67% of participating children who saw sexual images were exposed to them on an online device.
Self-generated sexual material
There has been an alarming increase in “self-generated†sexual material by children.
Self-generated content can include child sexual abuse content created using webcams, sometimes in the child’s bedroom and then shared online.
In some cases, these children are coerced, deceived or even extorted into producing and sharing a sexual image or video of themselves.
Internet Watch Foundation observes a 77% increase in “self-generated†sexual material by children from 2019 to 2020.
Sexual damage online
Online sexual violence is on the rise around the world and remains a pervasive problem on the African continent.
As part of the report, a global study of the childhood experiences of more than 5,000 young adults, aged 18 to 20, in 54 countries was carried out by Economist Impact.
More than one in three respondents (34%) had been asked to do something sexually explicit online that they were uncomfortable with as a child.
About 57% of respondents in Southern Africa and 37% of respondents in Central Africa have experienced at least one incident of sexual violence online.
The report also included a survey of technology companies.
The survey showed that 87% of tech companies use image hash-matching (these are tools to detect child sexual abuse material). However, only 37% of tech companies currently use tools to detect grooming online.
Cornelius Williams, director of the child protection program team, Unicef ​​said; “It is clear that technology is radically changing the nature of online child sexual exploitation and abuse around the world, including on the African continent. No country is immune. Offenders have new ways of accessing and abusing children. It is crucial that countries invest in child protection systems and services to prevent abuse from happening in the first place. This requires a coordinated effort within each country and across the world. “
LGBTQ + children are more at risk of being sexually abused online
The survey also shows that girls and respondents who identified as transgender / non-binary, LGBQ + and / or disabled were more likely to experience sexual harm online as children. ·
Overall, 57% of women and 48% of men surveyed reported at least one sexual harm online.
A staggering 59% of those surveyed who identified as transgender / non-binary have experienced sexual harm online. This is compared to 47% of cisgender respondents.
In total, 65% of respondents who identified as LGBQ + experienced sexual harm online, compared to 46% of non-LGBQ +.
More than half of respondents with disabilities (57%) have experienced sexual harm online, compared to 48% of respondents without disabilities
In total, 39% of respondents from racial or ethnic minorities would remove or block someone who sends them sexually explicit content, compared to 51% of non-minority respondents.
Only 17% of respondents from racial or ethnic minorities spoke about the content to a trusted adult or peer.
Contact details
Online sexual exploitation of children is a big problem in South Africa and around the world. These children are the future and we cannot close our eyes to this scourge.
Free telephone support: 0800 055 555