Press Release: Survivors of childhood sexual violence seek urgent action to ‘redesign’ the internet to protect children

Press Release

Survivors of childhood sexual violence seek urgent action to 'redesign' the internet to protect children

Survivors join bereaved parents and high-level political figures, to put pressure on political leaders, funders and tech companies to end childhood sexual abuse online.

The move comes 100 days before the historic inaugural Global Ministerial on Ending Violence Against Children - the first time that global leaders will be asked to pledge action to end the scourge of childhood sexual violence.

July 17, 2024 [LONDON]: Today, survivors of childhood sexual violence will address the escalating threat to children’s lives posed by online abuse, and call for action to ‘redesign’ the internet and protect children ahead of the first ever global Ministerial on the issue in November 2024. This is a pivotal moment to redefine the digital world for children, ensuring that technology is used for their benefit and never for their harm.

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UNICEF Office of Research Innocenti (Disrupting Harm) 2

Our grantees UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti (Disrupting Harm) Disrupting Harm 2 Countries involved:Italy Disrupting Harm is a large-scale data collection and research project to better understand online child sexual exploitation and abuse across the world. This study is assessing the scale, nature and context of this issue in

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5rights Foundation 2

Our grantees 5rights Foundation Global roll-out of the Child Online Safety Toolkit 5Rights Foundation is creating a Global Policy Handbook that outlines the steps needed to develop the cultural, technical and legal conditions to ensure the protection of children online. Specifically, the Handbook will offer the necessary roadmaps, signposts, and examples

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Plan International Vietnam

Our grantees Plan International Vietnam Countries involved:Viet Nam Plan International’s project will address gaps in the child protection system to respond to online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA), working with adolescents, schools, parents and service providers to set up an innovative community-based survivor support model to improve the reporting of

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Call to Action: A digital world safe for every child

Call to Action

A digital world safe for every child!

Sexual violence against children and adolescents is a pressing global issue. The consequences of child sexual exploitation and abuse are profound, leading to serious implications for children’s health, societal participation and economic prospects. The digital world has amplified children’s exposure to sexual exploitation
and abuse, exposing children to unprecedented risks.

As per the latest Childlight data, one case of online child abuse is reported every second. The Internet Watch Foundation noted 2023 as a ‘record year’ for child sexual abuse with an 8 per cent increase in the number of child sexual abuse imagery found online from the previous year. New and emerging technologies like Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (ER) are turbocharging the rate of abuse, generating child sexual abuse material at a scale and speed never seen before.  

Safe Online has joined hands with survivors and global child protection organisations to call upon key actors to prevent and end the sexual exploitation and abuse of children online and create a safer digital future for every child.

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Call to Action: A digital world safe for every child

Safe Online joins survivors, allies and global child protection organisations to call upon all States, the tech industry and other relevant stakeholders to prevent and end the sexual exploitation and abuse of children online and create a safer digital future for every child.

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ChildSafeNet

Our grantees ChildSafeNet Enhancing Parental Roles in Protecting Children from Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Countries involved:Nepal Online child sexual abuse and exploitation can affect almost all households globally – and parents and caregivers, who can be influential in most, if not all, settings of children’s lives, play an important

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Universidad de Los Andes

Our grantees Universidad de Los Andes Prevention of Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Latin America and Evaluation of Mitigation Strategies With Artificial Intelligence Countries involved:Colombia Through support from the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund, Universidad de los Andes in partnership with Programa Aulas en Paz will use artificial intelligence

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Our purpose in detail

We are here to ensure every child and young person grows in to the digital world feeling safe, and is protected from harm.

We support, champion, and invest in innovative partners from the public, private, and third sectors working towards the same objective.

We believe in equipping guardians and young people with the skills to understand and see danger themselves once accessing digital experiences without supervision.

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