Kai Foersterling / EPA
About 97% of adolescents in Spain are the victim of some kind of sexual violence on the internet. But most do not immediately realize the risks.
According to the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Save the Children, about 97% of Spanish adolescents victim of sexual violence on the internet.
The report “Networks that hold. Sexual exploitation of childhood and adolescence in digital environments”, prepared with the European Association for Digital Transition, includes official data and an inquiry to over 1,000 young Spanish young ages between 18 and 21 years.
According to the study, 97% of these young people said they were victims of some kind of sexual violence on the Internet during adolescence, which includes:
- Contacts by adults for sexual purposes;
- Unauthorized diffusion of intimate images or blackmail;
- and threats to send intimate and sexual content.
Another type of violence enhanced in the report is the use of artificial intelligence tools (IA) to create sexual content from a real image of adolescents or children (content known as ‘Deepfake’ or “Ultra counterfeits”).
According to the study, One in five Spanish young people was the victim of the creation and diffusion of these ‘Deepfake’ during adolescence, namely with sharing by someone else, to third parties, and without consent, of their own nudity images, elaborated through artificial intelligence.
“The internet, social networks and technologies not only facilitate capture and exposure to sexual exploitation-related risks, but can be the means by which these violence against boys and girls are committed and allow their perpetuation,” said Save the Children, in a statement released from the study published on Tuesday.
Social networks are the most frequent way for aggressors to start contacts with adolescent victims, with the study also highlighting, in the case of boys, Video Games ‘Online’.
After of this first contact, they move to applications and messages, such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Discord.
Girls are the ones that most denounce Being pressed to send intimate content (28.5% compared to 18.4% of boys), with the study revealing that all victims had shared personal or intimate information on the Internet during childhood and adolescence.
Most of it does not realize the risks
According to the study, only 50% of young people when they were smaller considered contact with unknown people one of the main risks of the internet and only 32.9% mentioned as dangerous the consented send of intimate images to adults.
On the other hand, 70% states that it did not see as a risk, in adolescence, the manipulation of photographs and videos with artificial intelligence.
Asked the reasons why they sent intimate or sexual images of themselves, 48% says it did not know it was something potentially dangerous, 46% weighed that it was normal and 42% sought attention, affection or some kind of validation.
In this context, Save the Children warns Lack of monitoring of minors; The scarce digital formation, in cybersecurity, privacy and recognition of danger situations and the intensive use of technologies by children and adolescents.
According to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Spain, cited in the NGO report, in 2023 there were 4,896 complaints for offenses on the Internet against children and adolescents, 1,068 of which were sexual crimes.
“These numbers represent only the tip of the icebergsince most cases do not know, in part, for the absence of complaint and, in part, by the Detection Difficultieswhich increases when these facts take place in an ‘online’ environment, ”said Save The Children leader, Perazzo Catalina.
