Content warning: this page discusses child abuse and sexual abuse which may be distressing.

It’s hard to say exactly how many children in the UK have been sexually abused or harassed. Abuse is often hidden. There are lots of reasons children may be unable to tell anyone about it. But we do know that abuse is sadly far too common.

Sad fact: Children need protecting from sexual abuse and exploitation

According to the NSPCC Child Sexual Abuse: Statistics Briefing 2021:

• Around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused
• Girls and older children are more likely to experience sexual abuse
• The vast majority of children who experience sexual abuse were abused by someone they knew

Online child abuse and exploitation is increasing

The internet offers many benefits. But going online and using social media also comes with risks. This includes the risk of online sexual abuse, exploitation and grooming as well as access to age-inappropriate and harmful content including pornography.

In 2022:

• Nearly all children aged 3 to 17 went online – Ofcom: Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2023
• 3 in 10 (31%) of 12 to 15-year-olds in Ofcom studies said “they had seen something they found worrying or nasty online” – Ofcom: Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2023

Also:

• The ONS also reported that 1 in 5 (19%) child sexual offences recorded by the police involved an online element – ONS, Crime in England and Wales, 2020
• The NSPCC says that child abuse image crimes have reached record levels

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said that in 2022:

• Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) instances of child sexual abuse found online by the IWF were of children aged 11 to 13
• More than 1 in 3 (36%) instances were of children aged 7 to 10
• Almost all (98%) instances of child sexual abuse found by IWF were of female children, although imagery of boys increased by 137% compared to 2021
• The IWF took action on over 255,500 URLs which it confirmed contained images or videos of children suffering sexual abuse
• More than 3 in 4 (78%) of these URLs contained images or videos “made and/or shared via an internet connected device with a camera, as opposed to an abuser being physically present in the room with the victim(s). Often, a child has been groomed, coerced and encouraged by someone interacting with the child online.”



Online pornography

“Online pornography is not equivalent to a ‘top-shelf’ magazine. The adult content which parents may have accessed in their youth could be considered ‘quaint’ in comparison to today’s world of online pornography. Depictions of degradation, sexual coercion, aggression and exploitation are commonplace, and disproportionately targeted against teenage girls.“
Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner, ‘A lot of it is actually just abuse’ – Young people and pornography report.

The Children’s Commissioner 2021-22 review into online sexual harassment and abuse stated “[online] exposure to pornography is widespread and normalised – to the extent that children cannot ‘opt-out’.”

The review talked to young people aged 13 to 19 and surveyed 1,000 young people aged 16 to 21. Over 6 in 10 (64%) said they had seen online pornography. Of these:

• 1 in 10 (10%) of nine-year-olds had seen pornography
• 3 in 10 (27%) of children had seen pornography by age 11
• Half (50%) of children had seen it by age 13
• 4 in 5 (79%) had seen violent pornography before the age of 18, with the report stating “young people are frequently exposed to violent pornography, depicting coercive, degrading or pain-inducing sex acts”.

Pornography is NOT just on dedicated adult sites

The Children’s Commissioner report found that Twitter was the online platform where young people were most likely to have seen pornography.

The second most common place was dedicated pornography websites, closely followed by Instagram and Snapchat.

Online and offline sexual abuse is common in schools and colleges

An Ofsted review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges (2021) found that sexual abuse and harassment in schools is “commonplace”.

Ofsted recommends that schools should “act as though sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are happening, even when there are no specific reports.”

Ofsted found:

• Girls said that behaviour such as “being sent unsolicited explicit sexual material and being pressured to send nude pictures (‘nudes’)” happened much more often than adults realise.
• 9 in 10 (90%) girls, and nearly half (50%) of boys “said being sent explicit pictures or videos of things they did not want to see, happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers.”
• 9 in 10 (92%) girls and 3 in 4 boys (74%) “said sexist name-calling happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers.”

How to tackle child sexual abuse and harassment

Is there any good news?

Yes!

1) Relationships education in primary schools

Children in primary schools across the UK are learning about healthy and respectful relationships and online and offline safety.

The curriculum varies in each area of the UK but the core themes are:

• Being kind: having positive relationships with family, friends, classmates, and others.
• Being kind to people who are different to you: celebrating different types of families, diversity and what makes everyone unique.
• Online and offline safety: ways of staying safe, recognising unsafe situations and content, and how to report concerns and get help.

More about the RSHE curriculum in England click here.

2) Relationships education in primary schools: Online and offline safety

As above, at the core of Relationships education in primary schools is online and offline safety e.g. children learn:

• to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unsafe, and how to seek help or advice from others,
• to understand that people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they are not,
• the rules for keeping safe online,
• how to recognise online risks, harmful content and harmful contact, and how to report them,
• how information and data is shared and used online,
• the sorts of boundaries that are appropriate in friendships (including in a digital context),
• about the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults; including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe,
• that each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical contact,
• how to respond safely and appropriately to adults whom they do not know (including online),
• how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult,
• how to ask for advice or help for themselves or others, and to keep trying until they are heard,
• how to report concerns or abuse, and the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so, and
• where to get advice, for example family, school or other sources

Also see our parents guide to relationships and sex education in primary schools.

3) Statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) in secondary schools:

Relationships, sex and health education is taught in secondary schools across the UK.

Importantly, studies show that high-quality RSHE has many benefits:

• It can delay the age that young people first have sex,
• Make safer sex more likely, and
• Reduce the chances a young person will have a sexual experience that they did not want or agree to.

The curriculum is slightly different for each area of the UK but includes topics like:

• Healthy relationships
• Online and offline safety
• Consent
• Personal privacy

For more about the RSHE curriculum in England click here.

4) There are lots of people and organisations looking at these problems

On one hand it’s been hard to put together this information. It’s a dark and distressing topic

On the other hand, it’s encouraging that there are so many people and organisations tackling these problems, including the NSPCC, Children’s Commissioner and Internet Watch Foundation. The research is plentiful – we now need more action.

5) The Online Safety Bill

The Online Safety Bill is the proposed law to tackle many child exploitation issues. It’s currently being debated in parliament.

Angus Crawford at the BBC commented, “At its heart this complicated bill has a simple aim: those things that are criminal or unacceptable in real life should be treated the same online but [the Bill] won’t satisfy everyone.“

• The UK government says that the bill aims “to protect children and adults online. It will make social media companies more responsible for their users’ safety on their platforms.”
• The Children’s Commissioner has said that the Online Safety Bill “holds the promise of, finally, regulating pornography sites and ensuring that they implement robust age verification to protect children.” – read the Children’s Commissioner’s views

With organisations that support children and young people have welcomed the Online Safety Bill but called for it to be strengthened.

• The NSPCC have called for the bill to introduce a Child Safety Advocate.
• Organisations including the Samaritans and Internet Matters have said that the bill does not offer enough protection for people aged 18 and over.

Keep in touch

If you’ve got good news to share – or think the Family Planning Association can help more – please contact us.