Online sexual exploitation of children fueled by social media

By Benjamin Jumbe

A new report on online sexual exploitation of children has highlighted an increase in the vice. 

Presenting findings of the study titled “Disrupting Harm in Uganda ” conducted between 2019 and 2021, Rogers Twesigye from UNICEF noted that social media especially Facebook and WhatsApp were the main platforms for the exploitation of children.

He says the findings further revealed that 12% of the children interviewed have been asked for videos or photos of them naked, while 10% of them had also been offered gifts and money in exchange for those videos and pictures.

The report also reveals that people known to the children make up a much bigger portion of perpetrators compared to strangers.

Over 1,000 internet using children were interviewed in the research delivered by ECPAT, Interpol and UNICEF

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna