Virtually all young people (97%) between 18 and 21 years claims to have suffered some kind of sexual violence in digital environments when they were minors. This is revealed by Save the Children’s report, Networks that catch. Sexual exploitation of childhood and adolescence in digital environmentspublished this Tuesday. “The,” says the document, and highlights that young people have little perception of danger in front of this problem.
Sexual violence in the network covers various modalities and over time new, promoted by the advancement of applications, technologies and digital channels. Some mentioned by the report are the grooming, One of the best known, which is the drilling of an adult to a minor for sexual purposes. It also highlights the sexting, The dissemination of intimate content without authorization, or the consumption, production and dissemination of child sexual material. It highlights, on the other hand, the increase in extortion towards children to send intimate or sexual material, as well as the use of artificial intelligence to create this type of content.
The various forms of violence do not constitute isolated phenomena. Many times they are connected to each other and are part of the same process. A child can be a victim of several at the same time.
To know online perceptions and behaviors during childhood and adolescence, Save The Children conducted a survey of more than 1,000 young people between 18 and 21 years. In this, 26% said they were pressed, when they were minor, to send intimate or sexual content and 20% indicated to have been threatened to show this type of content.
That is the case that Lucía López, a Save the Children educator in Alicante. Last year, a 12 -year -old girl approached her, with great shame and shyness, to tell her that: “or shared a video of a sexual nature or, if not, they were going to spend photos of her naked,” Lucia explains in a video shared by the organization. “At all times she believed that it was her guilt, she had not shared photos, but she wasn’t sure what photos they were talking about,” he adds.
Being a case of. After that, they also talked to their peers. “It’s what they live on a day -to -day basis,” says Lucia, “so they empathized with her.” Many said they had received similar messages.
In fact, according to the report, 38% indicated having received comments or sexual photos without having requested it. And one in three referred to having had contact with an adult person for sexual purposes in the digital environment (grooming) When he was a minor.
He grooming It is one of the main forms of capture of children. It is based on manipulation, deception or coercion to obtain digital materials of sexual content, generate sexual encounters or involve the child in exploitation networks. In 2023, the Ministry of Interior registered 525 complaints for facts related to this – an increase with respect to the 408 complaints registered the previous year.
In any case, the figures represent only the tip of the iceberg, since many cases are not reported and others are not even recognized as such by the minors themselves, so they do not communicate, explains Catalina Perazzo, director of influence and territorial development of Save the Children. This becomes even more difficult in digital environments. In September of last year ,.
The survey also consulted for the contact paths used by the exploiters. Among the main Instagram with 68%, then WhatsApp and Grindr (48%) and X (44%). It is worth highlighting the contact for online games and streaming with 44%.
There is only one profile of who approaches minors with sexual intentions, although common patterns have been identified. The report indicates that, in the vast majority of cases, the aggressor is a man with an average age of 28 years. It usually acts only in the digital environment and is usually an unknown person for the victim, although in some cases it belongs to their close environment. In half of the episodes, the exploiter does not hide his identity.
No danger perception
One of the outstanding concerns is the low risk perception that minors have in the face of different forms of online sexual violence. For example, although half of young people believe that contact with strangers is one of the main dangers in the digital environment, only one in three perceives as risky the consented shipment of intimate images to adults. Only 24 % said.
During their childhood or adolescence, 27% of respondents indicated to have sent their own intimate or sexual content voluntarily. However, most did not consider it a risk. The report highlights the danger of these contents: “They can be redistributed without consent, used by adults for sexual purposes or end up circulating in environments where they can be exploited.”
On the other hand, 65% did not perceive as threatens the sending or forwarding of images without the consent of the person.
The reasons why young people share these contents are because they do not know the danger, they believe it is normal, they seek attention, they want to receive money or try to fit their friends, among others. “In adolescence it is thought that one is invincible, that nothing will happen … that the person to whom I send my photos will not share them,” Perazzo explains.
The same goes for the images created by artificial intelligence, a problem that becomes bigger: one in five young people claims to meet someone who has sent this type of material to show nudes, being a minor and without consent. However, seven out of 10 do not see the threat in the manipulation of photos or videos through AI.
Perazzo attributes this situation to the lack of knowledge and training of young people. “There are general messages that do arrive, such as the excessive use of the mobile is bad. But concrete risks, such as the grooming Or the dissemination of images, they do not enter that detail. They think ‘can’t happen to me,’ ”he says.
For Save The Children specialists, it is necessary to educate children and adolescents regarding the use of technologies so that they are alert. As for schools, they consider that it must be introduced transversally into the educational curriculum, depending on the ages, two contents: the responsible use of the Internet and, on the other hand, affective-sexual education.
In addition, at home it is essential that parents talk to their children about the reality they can find on the Internet, explain what behaviors are acceptable and which do not, and establish limits jointly. It is also key to create a space of trust for children to feel safe when communicating any risk situation, in case of being victims.
