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.
Our grantees UNICEF South Africa Strengthening Children’s Online Safety in South Africa Countries involved:South Africa The Fund is helping UNICEF South Africa promote positive Internet use while deterring online violence, exploitation and abuse. From 2018-2022, the agency worked on creating tools on online safety and integrating them into existing programmes and platforms
Our grantees Red Papaz, UNICEF Colombia & Fundación Renacer Youth’s Experience of Peer-to-peer Sexual Violence Online, Social Norms and Youth-led Recommendations for Prevention and Response: A Cross-regional Study Countries involved:Colombia In Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena, Red PaPaz is partnering with Fundacion Renacer and UNICEF Colombia to work on multiple levels to end online violence against children.
Our grantees UNICEF Dominican Republic & Plan International Dominican Republic Protecting Every Child Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Countries involved:October 2017 – October 2019 In the Dominican Republic, UNICEF Dominican Republic and Plan International Dominican Republic have teamed up to establish and implement the country’s national response board, which is charged with coordinating initaitives that prevent
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All imagery is taken from the UNICEF image library. It is not available in the public domain.
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.
