About

Facts and Statistics

The sexual exploitation of tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa and around the world has become ubiquitous. It’s important to understand that exploitative situations involve not only the victim-survivor and perpetrator, but also the environment which facilitates and is conducive to trafficking and exploitation. This is shaped by wider systemic and social issues.

5th

New Zealand has the 5th worst child abuse record out of 31 OECD countries
(UNICEF Innocenti Report)

1 in 3

of detected trafficking victims are children
(UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 2022)

1 in 5

children globally are solicited sexually on the internet
(The Prevalence of Unwanted Online Sexual Exposure and Solicitation Among Youth: A Meta-Analysis, 2018)

60%

More than 60% of victims of child sexual abuse imagery are prepubescent
(Towards a Global Indicator on Unidentified Victims in Child Sexual Exploitation Material, 2018, INTERPOL and ECPAT International joint publication)

1 in 3

girls may be sexually abused before they turn 16 years old, and 1 in 7 boys before 18 years old
(Sexual Abuse Education, 2023)

90%

of child sexual violence is committed by someone known to the child
(Wellington Help)

7 years

is the average life expectancy of a child after being coerced and exploited into sex work
(American SPCC)

36.2 million

reports of suspected child sexual exploitation online are reviewed by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children annually
(USA National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, 2023 CyberTipline)

11-14

years is the average age of recruitment into forced sex work
(DEMAND. A Comparative Examination of Sex Tourism and Trafficking in Jamaica, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, 2012, Shared Hope International)

1 in 7

As many as 1 in 7 runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children likely became victims of sex trafficking
(USA National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2022)

98%

of child sexual abuse material reports involve children under 13 years old
(Internet Watch Foundation)

55%

of victims meet their traffickers through social media
(Survivor Insights: The Role of Technology in Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, 2018, Thorn in collaboration with Dr. Vanessa Bouché)

66.4%

Overall site views related to accessing child sexual abuse material have increased by 66.4%.
(Aoteaora Department of Internal Affairs, 2019)

9 years

The median age for reported sexual abuse is 9 years old
(Prevalence of child sexual abuse reported by a cross-sectional sample of New Zealand women, 2007, Janet L Fanslow, Elizabeth M Robinson, Sue Crengle, Lana Perese)

In 2021 there was a three-fold increase in imagery showing 7–10 year-olds who have been targeted and groomed by internet predators
(Internet Watch Foundation, 2022)

Many child victims may never disclose their abuse
(Multiple sources from different countries)

2 in 5

22 million people are in forced marriages. 2 in 5 of these are children
(Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, 2022)

1 in 5 teenage girls and 1 in 10 teenage boys reported having shared nudes of themselves
(Self-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material: Attitudes and Experiences. Findings from 2019 qualitative and quantitative research among 9-17 year olds and caregivers, 2020, Thorn in partnership with Benenson Strategy Group)

Māori and Pasifika communities are disproportionately affected by child abuse, with overrepresentation in survival sex statistics
(Children and survival sex: A social work agenda, 2014, Natalie Thorburn and Irene de Haan)

LGBTQI+ youth experience increased vulnerability and risk of sexual exploitation
(Child sexual abuse/exploitation and LGBTQI+ children: Context, links, vulnerabilities, gaps, challenges and priorities, 2024, Mark Capaldi, Jennifer Schatz, Mark Kavenagh)

The primary targets of financial sextortion are boys and young men
(An Analysis of Financial Sextortion Victim Posts Published on r/Sextortion, 2022, Canadian Centre for Child Protection)

In cases of sextortion, typically boys are extorted for money. Girls are extorted for more images
(CyberTip Canada, 2024)

300,000

WhatsApp reported they ban 300,000 accounts for child sexual exploitation and abuse material each month
(Esafety Commissioner, 2022)

7000%

Financial sexual extortion increased by over 7000% in one year
(International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, 2021)

84%

of CSAM reports were found by InHope to be never-before-seen material, depicting new and known child victims of sexual abuse
(InHope Annual Report, 2022)

9 in 10

victims of child sexual abuse material were detected to be between 3 and 12 years old
(InHope Annual Report, 2022)