NEW YORK — Around 20 million children aged 12 to 17—roughly one in five across 21 countries surveyed—experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse, according to a new report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The findings, released on Thursday, highlight the growing risks children face in digital spaces, including social media platforms, messaging services and online games.
UNICEF warned that the figures are likely to underestimate the true scale of the problem because many children do not report their experiences and significant numbers never disclose the abuse to anyone.
“More than 20 million children across the countries studied were subjected to unwanted explicit sexual content or exploitation online,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said, describing the findings as a “painful reality”.
Social media remains the main gateway
According to the report, nearly 60 per cent of recorded cases occurred on social media, including platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp.
Online gaming platforms accounted for another 14 per cent of reported instances.
Researchers found that digital platforms can provide perpetrators with opportunities to build trust with children while concealing their identities or manipulating online interactions.
In about 38 per cent of cases, children first encountered perpetrators online.
The report also found that the threat does not come exclusively from strangers. Across the 21 countries examined, 57 per cent of cases involved perpetrators known to the child, including peers, friends or family members.
In Montenegro, more than 80 per cent of reported cases involved social media.
Millions exposed to unwanted sexual content
The report estimates that more than 15 million children were exposed to unwanted sexual content.
Another nine million were pressured or forced into sexual conversations or asked to share sexual images against their wishes, while approximately four million had sexual images of themselves distributed without their consent.
UNICEF stressed that these figures represent only the cases captured by the research and that the actual scale of online child sexual exploitation could be considerably larger.
Psychological harm can last beyond the abuse
The consequences can extend far beyond the digital incident itself.
Children interviewed as part of the research described feelings of fear, shame, confusion, isolation and a loss of trust in other people.
The UNICEF analysis found that children who experienced technology-facilitated sexual exploitation were four times more likely to report suicidal thoughts or behaviours and self-harm, and also reported substantially higher levels of anxiety.
In Pakistan, the reported risk of self-harm was more than seven times higher among children who had experienced such exploitation.
One young woman from the Dominican Republic described the shock she experienced after private images were circulated without her consent when she was 14.
Most children never report the abuse
Perhaps one of the most concerning findings is how rarely children seek official help.
More than 40 per cent of cases were never disclosed to anyone, while fewer than 1 per cent were reported to authorities, according to the report.
One of the most frequently cited reasons was that children simply did not know whom they could approach for help.
UNICEF said this silence leaves many survivors isolated and allows perpetrators to continue exploiting children.
“These experiences cause profound emotional and mental distress,” Russell said. “Many children suffer in silence, unsure where to turn for help.”
UNICEF calls for stronger safeguards
UNICEF is urging governments, technology companies and wider society to strengthen protections for children in digital environments.
The agency is calling on technology companies to build stronger child-safety measures into their platforms and make reporting mechanisms easier and more effective.
Governments, meanwhile, should strengthen legislation, enforcement and accountability mechanisms to ensure that perpetrators can be identified and prosecuted.
UNICEF also highlighted the need to challenge harmful gender norms that can normalise the sexualisation of girls while placing stigma on survivors of sexual violence.
A growing challenge in the digital age
The findings underline a difficult reality of the modern internet: the same digital platforms that allow children to learn, communicate and socialise can also expose them to serious forms of exploitation.
Protecting children online therefore requires more than simply warning young people about potential dangers. UNICEF argues that platform design, law enforcement, regulation, education and access to support services must work together.
As children's lives become increasingly connected to digital platforms, governments and technology companies face growing pressure to ensure that online spaces are designed with children's safety at their core.
For millions of young people already affected, however, the immediate priority is ensuring that they are heard, protected and given safe and confidential routes to seek help.
