A safer digital environment for children - Now is the time to ACT!

It is estimated that one in three Internet users worldwide is under 18 years of age. While the digital environment offers new opportunities for the realization of children’s rights, it also poses risks of the violation or abuse of those rights.

The online risks to children can entail different forms of violence and harm.

The lack of comprehensive data on violence against children in that environment remains a challenge. Notwithstanding the gaps that persist, the data that already exist on children’s exposure to violence and harm online are alarming.

A recent review of evidence by WHO highlighted that according to meta-analyses of international studies regarding different forms of violence against children online: 15% of children reported cyberbullying victimization; 11.5% of survey participants had received unwanted online sexual solicitation; and 8% of adolescents had a self-made sexual image forwarded without consent.

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