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NEW YORK,BANGKOK/HONG KONG, 7 June 2016 – Eight out of ten 18-year-olds believe young people are in danger of being sexually abused or taken advantage of online, and more than five out of 10 think friends participate in risky behaviours while using the internet, a new UNICEF study shows.

Perils and Possibilities: Growing up online is based on an international opinion poll of more than 10,000 18-year-olds from 25 countries, revealing young people’s perspectives on the risks they face growing up in an increasingly connected world.

“The internet and mobile phones have revolutionized young people’s access to information, but the poll findings show just how real the risk of online abuse is for girls and boys,” said UNICEF’s Associate Director of Child Protection, Cornelius Williams. “Globally, one in three internet users is a child. Today’s findings provide important insights from young people themselves. UNICEF aims to amplify adolescents’ voices to help address online violence, exploitation and abuse, and make sure that children can take full advantage of the benefits the internet and mobile phones offer.”

The new report finds that adolescents appear confident with their own ability to stay safe, with nearly 90 per cent of interviewees believing they can avoid online dangers. Approximately six out of 10 said meeting new people online is either somewhat or very important to them, but only 36 per cent strongly believe they can tell when people are lying about who they are online.

More than two-thirds of girls, 67 per cent strongly agree they would be worried if they received sexual comments or requests over the internet, this compares to 47 per cent of boys. When online threats do occur, more adolescents turn to friends than parents or teachers, but less than half strongly agree they know how to help a friend facing an online risk.

East Asia and the Pacific

UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific’s report, Child Protection in the Digital Age, also released today, highlights specific areas where intensified efforts are urgently required in the region.

The Philippines is one of the worst affected countries in this region. For some time, it has been the number one global source of child sexual abuse materials, also known as child pornography. Digital technology is changing the scale and form of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the Philippines is now seeing more and more cases of live stream child sexual abuse.

This involves an overseas child sex abuser who connects via webcam to an ‘operator’ in the Philippines. The foreigner pays the operator to arrange sexual abuse of children on camera. Shockingly, in some of these cases, the operator is the child’s own parents.

In one Manila slum, children abused as part of a webcam ‘show’ received 150 pesos ($3 USD, approx HK$23) each. But the cost to children’s health and wellbeing is much greater. In later life, they are more likely to have mental health problems, not attend or drop out of school, to attempt suicide, and to engage in high-risk behaviours.

• In 2015, the Philippines Office of Cybercrime received 12,374 cyber tips from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• The number of criminal cases of live stream child abuse in the Philippines is rising, from 57 in 2013, to 89 in 2014, and 167 in 2015.

“We need to raise awareness and vigilance of this issue, so that parents and others understand that child abuse – in any form – is not just morally wrong, it is also extremely harmful to children’s health and development,” said Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Representative in the Philippines. “Unfortunately, at the moment the situation is getting worse, not better.”

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the main international treaty on children’s rights. Some of the CRC rights impacted by the Internet include the right to access information and mass media, to be protected from violence and abuse, to get an education, and to take part in cultural activities and play.

“Children’s rights haven’t changed in the Internet age, but the context in which they’re expressed has,” said Afrooz Kaviani Johnson, a child protection expert at UNICEF East Asia and Pacific. “For example, digital media gives children greater opportunities to learn, socialize and play. But they also face increased risks, including from cyberbullying and potential abuse.”

To tackle the risks children face on the Internet, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific has partnered with the Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia) to produce materials by and for children about how to stay safe online. Young people from across the region helped refine the materials to make them relevant for Asian children. These will be distributed online, in schools and through children’s networks.

Global call for action

UNICEF, together with the WePROTECT Global Alliance, is calling on national governments to establish coordinated responses between criminal justice systems including law enforcement, and child welfare, education, health and the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sectors, as well as civil society, to better protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation.

“When young people, governments, families, the ICT sector and communities work together, we are more likely to find the best ways to respond to online sexual abuse and exploitation, and send a strong message that confronting and ending violence against children online – indeed anywhere – is all of our business,” said Williams.