Report shows scale of online abuse of Children

As many as one in four children are manipulated into sexual interactions online, according to a report from the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, hosted by the University. Around 27 per cent of children are subjected to unwanted interactions via mobile phones or the internet – including grooming for the exchange of inappropriate images, the report estimates. The research into abuse facilitated by technology says more girls than boys are affected by this type of sexual abuse, with 38.6 per cent of females and 19 per cent of males affected before turning 18. In the past year alone, it is estimated to have affected nearly 7 per cent of children – 7.4 per cent of girls and 5.3 per cent of boys. Childlight also estimates nearly 1 in 10 children can expect to face sexual extortion, a form of blackmail that involves threatening to share intimate images or videos online. It added that a report in 2024 found more than 130 million children experienced abuse offline. Public health priorityThe report is one of the first to include global data on so-called ‘paedophile manuals’ or guidance materials for abusers on how to access and harm children and obtain child abuse material – and evade justice. The research highlighted evidence of the manuals in more than 1,500 devices across more than 60 countries. The new Into the Light Data Update report, launched at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, calls on governments to recognise child sexual abuse as an urgent public health priority, with health ministers given a central prevention role. The report, also calls on governments to properly count the problem and put greater efforts into prevention. The harms of childhood sexual abuse are not fleeting. For many victims they include trauma, anxiety, depression and self-harm that can last long into adulthood. Evidence indicates that it is a greater contributor to ill health among girls and women than widely recognised risk factors such as smoking, harmful alcohol use or lack of physical activity. Among boys it is a greater factor than poor diet. So this is a worldwide health emergency – but it is preventable. Professor Debi Fry Childlight’s Global Director of Data, project lead Health systems can help prevent harm by building support into everyday care – giving parents guidance on child development, checking in on wellbeing and offering help early through trusted services families already use. Stronger regulation, effective education, smart legislation and technology designed with safety at its core can also help reduce and prevent harm, experts say. Evolving threatChildlight's report highlights how the threat is evolving, with technology, including artificial intelligence, opening new pathways for abuse. It also explains how criminal networks profit from the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Childlight’s global report draws from representative population surveys, analysing 147 studies conducted across 60 countries. Reports on the scale of online solicitation of children in the past year was highest in East and Southern Africa (9.7 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (7.6 per cent), and Western Europe (7.4 per cent), the research found. Among Childlight’s recommendations are legislation to make the creation, possession and dissemination of ‘paedophile manuals’ illegal as part of a comprehensive legislative response to technology-facilitated child abuse. Legal loopholesIt also calls for legal loopholes around AI-generated abuse material to be closed, comprehensive data collection and more investment in hotlines and reporting tools to safeguard children and ensure rapid removal of online abuse material. Childlight is a global child safety data institute, hosted by the Universities of Edinburgh and New South Wales, and was established by Human Dignity Foundation. It utilises academic research expertise to better understand the nature and prevalence of child sexual exploitation and abuse to help inform policy responses to tackling it. Related linksImage credit Qi Yong via Getty Images Childlight’s Into the Light Index Data Update can be read here Childlight - Global Child Safety Institute Tags 2026 Data, Digital and AI Future of Health and Care Publication date 19 May, 2026