30/06/2024
Online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) is when technology, particularly the Internet, is used to enable the sexual abuse of a child. Victims range from teenagers to newborn babies. Abusers can be someone the child knows and trusts, who then shares videos and images of the sexual abuse online. Abusers can also be strangers online, grooming and coercing a child to sexually abuse themselves or even other children, known as self-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The UN estimates that 750,000 people are accessing child sexual abuse material online at any given second. The ten most harmful child sexual abuse networks online have more than three million members collectively. In 2020 alone, over 65 million photos and videos of child sexual abuse material were reported online. The internet, being a vast network, has led to a higher proportion of potential or real offenders grooming, accessing, distributing, and joining criminal networks online.
Consequently, we will likely see an increase in the production and distribution of child exploitation material. The size of the problem is immense, and it is labeled the fastest-growing major crime for a reason.
~ Be Internet Secure
