UK government publishes research on prevalence of online-facilitated child sexual abuse

The UK Home Office has released new research estimating that approximately one in ten children aged 11 to 17 in England and Wales have experienced some form of online-facilitated sexual abuse, including non-consensual sharing of sexual images, online grooming and sexual extortion. The study, published in late November 2024, drew on survey data from over 10,000 young people and found that much of the abuse occurred on mainstream social media and messaging platforms, with perpetrators often known to the victim initially through school or social connections before contact moved online. The findings highlight the scale of the threat and the fact that many incidents go unreported, with victims citing shame, fear of not being believed, or concerns about losing access to devices as reasons for staying silent.

When one in ten children has encountered online sexual abuse, detection cannot rely on a minority of victims finding the courage and opportunity to report. Real-time pattern recognition that does not require a child to speak up, such as that provided by Guardii, identifies the linguistic and behavioural markers of grooming and sextortion as a conversation develops, alerting a parent, school or safeguarding authority while the child is still in contact and intervention can prevent escalation. Deployed across the platforms the Home Office study identifies as high-risk environments, including Instagram, Snapchat and Discord, Guardii surfaces children in danger who would otherwise remain invisible in official statistics until long after the abuse has occurred.