Child online sexual victimisation – infographic

Online sexual victimisation of children and young people in Australia

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) surveyed 3500 Australians aged 16 to 24 years to measure the national prevalence of online sexual victimisation (OSV) before age 18.

We asked the young people about their experiences of two important types of OSV in childhood:

1. Non-consensual sharing of a sexual image of themselves.
2. Online sexual solicitation by an adult (being asked to talk about sex or send sexual images).

We found OSV experiences are common.

• 7.6 % experienced non-consensual sharing of a sexual image of themselves
• 17.7% experienced online sexual solicitation by an adult

Girls are around three times more likely than boys to have these experiences.

• Experienced non-consensual sharing of a sexual image of themselves: 10.9% girls. 3.8% boys. More than 1 in 10 girls
• Experienced online sexual solicitation by an adult: 26.3% girls. 7.6% boys. More than 1 in 4 girls

Children and young people often have these experiences at an early age.

Among those who experienced OSV, it commenced:

• Non-consensual sharing of a sexual image of themselves
  15% by 12 years of age; 65% by 15 years of age
• Online sexual solicitation by an adult
  25% by 12 years of age; 80% by 15 years of age

These two types of OSV tend to be inflicted by different people. The most common perpetrators are:

For non-consensual sharing of sexual images
Other adolescents under 18

• 48.8% Romantically involved with the victim
• 23.4% Not romantically involved with the victim

Online sexual solicitation by an adult

• 13.3% known adults
• 86.7% unknown adults

Online sexual victimisation in childhood is common in Australia, especially for girls. Depending on the circumstances, it can impact an individual’s social, emotional, and physical wellbeing and health.

Recommendations

• Prevention and response to online sexual victimisation must be a national priority.
• Design and regulation of online environments should embed safety-by-design principles.
• Education of children and young people to develop digital citizenship and sexual literacy can assist in prevention.
• Parents and carers and people working with children and young people can also be supported in understanding these forms of OSV, and in making appropriate responses.

A freely-accessible paper has been published in Child Abuse & Neglect (Vol 160, February 2025). The paper sets out the study and its findings in detail.

©Queensland University of Technology, 2024

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study online sexual victimisation research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, with additional funding and contributions from the Australian Government Department of Social Services, the National Office for Child Safety, and the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse. The findings and views reported in the research are those of the authors.