More than 300 million children a year are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse, according to research conducted by Childlight researchers at the University of Edinburgh.

In what marks the first global estimate of the scale of the crisis, researchers found that one in eight, or 12.6%, of the world’s children have been victims of non-consensual talking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and video in the past year, amounting to about 302 million young people.

In addition, 12.5% of children globally (300 million) are estimated to have been subject in the past year to online solicitation, such as unwanted sexual talk which can include non-consensual sexting, unwanted sexual questions and unwanted sexual act requests by adults or other youths.  Offences can also take the form of “sextortion”, where predators demand money from victims to keep images private, to abuse of AI deepfake technology.

While problems exist in all parts of the world, the research suggests the United States is a particularly high-risk area.  Surveys found 7% of British men, or 1.8 million, admitted the same, as did 7.5% of men in Australia.  The research also found many men admitted they would seek to commit physical sexual offences against children if they thought it would be kept secret.

Childlight chief executive Paul Stanfield said:

This is on a staggering scale that in the UK alone equates to forming a line of male offenders that could stretch all the way from Glasgow to London – or filling Wembley Stadium 20 times over.

Child abuse material is so prevalent that files are on average reported to watchdog and policing organisations once every second.

This is a global health pandemic that has remained hidden for far too long. It occurs in every country, it’s growing exponentially, and it requires a global response.

We need to act urgently and treat it as a public health issue that can be prevented. Children can’t wait.