Child sexual exploitation: The grim statistics

An Official Information Act request to police has revealed that between 2019 and 2023, 2468 proceedings against offenders for child exploitation material resulted in court action, but this is only a small fraction of reported cases regarding child exploitation in New Zealand. High-speed internet and the explosion of various apps and web platforms are some of the primary drivers of the increase.

Amongst the many grim statistics shared in the article, new research from Snap Inc shows that early two-thirds of Generation Z teens and young adults in six countries said they or their friends had been targeted in online “sextortion” schemes.

In Aotearoa, ECPAT NZ Deputy Director of Survivor Engagement Synteche Collins notes, we have a “digital child sexual exploitation filtering system that still relies on the ISPs opting in. We have to advocate for them to see the value in making them report and take down CSAM content.”