In the INHOPE network, organisations around the world work together to prevent sexual abuse of children and young people in the digital environment and to support criminal prosecution. In order for this to be realised, it is particularly important to find out the extent to which sexual violence takes place online. In addition to the reporting procedures implemented as part of the existing collaborations, the ReportCSAM reporting portal was launched this summer. The website provides clear instructions on how to report illegal content quickly and easily. It also offers assistance in dealing with potential depictions of sexual abuse of children and young people. As this is a global reporting portal, there are links to international cooperations and partners as well as to the national law enforcement authorities. For Germany, relevant information and reports can be submitted via the respective hotline forms of jugendschutz.net, eco or the FSM.

Sexual violence online is a serious problem for users of digital services. According to the JIM Study 2023, almost one in four young people (23 per cent) in Germany between the ages of 12 and 19 have already come into contact with pornographic content in the digital environment unintentionally. 20 per cent of young people report sexual harassment on the internet. Girls (26 per cent) are affected twice as often as boys (13 per cent). International studies also show that children with such experiences are increasingly younger when they experience sexual violence online for the first time. This can take different forms and be perceived in different ways. In the global survey Estimates of childhood exposure to online sexual harassment and their risk factors, 34 per cent of 18 to 20-year-olds who were affected by sexual harassment or violence in their childhood reported being asked to do something explicitly sexual online as a minor that they did not want to do or that made them feel uncomfortable. Almost one in three (29 per cent) reported that explicit sexual images of them had been shared with others without their consent. Another 29 per cent stated that they had received explicit sexual depictions from an adult or someone they did not know. One in four respondents (25 per cent) confirmed that an adult they knew or someone they did not know had asked them to keep some of their sexually explicit online interactions private.

Against this background, the organisation BraveMovement has published a petition in the run-up to the first global ministerial conference on ending sexual violence against children, in which it calls for far-reaching measures in the areas of regulation, funding and support, the participation of those affected in measures to be taken and measures to raise awareness of the issue of sexual violence against children and young people. The petition can be signed by individuals here.