Study by Ulm University HospitalA third of young adults affected by sexual violence on the internet

More and more children and young people are being confronted with sexual transgressions and sexualized violence online. Ulm University Hospital has now conducted a representative survey on this topic in Germany. The results of the survey show that Around a third of young adults (aged 18 to 29) were affected in their childhood - more than three times as many as the population average. At klicksafe, parents, teachers and young people can find lots of materials with tips and support on the topic of sexual violence against children online.

A third of young adults affected by sexual violence on the internet

With the increasing use of digital media, children and young people are also increasingly coming into contact with problematic content and dangers. These include sexual transgressions and sexual abuse. Perpetrators use digital technologies such as social media platforms, messengers or video chats to initiate, escalate or perpetuate sexual assaults. The spectrum of behaviour and punishable acts is very broad: from unwanted confrontation with pornographic material to sexualized contact via the internet to the (unwanted) creation and forwarding of sexualized material by children and young people themselves.

Results of the representative survey

The Competence Center for Child Protection in Medicine in Baden-Württemberg at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at Ulm University Hospital conducted a representative survey on online-based child sexual abuse and boundary violations in cooperation with the market and social research institute "USUMA". A total of 3,098 people were surveyed from October 2023 to April 2024. 10.3% of the German population reported at least one experience of sexualized child abuse or boundary violating behaviour during their childhood or adolescence. This is particularly evident in the young adult age group of 18 to 29 years: The frequency here is 31.6% - more than three times higher than the population average.

Furthermore, in the digital world, there are significantly smaller differences between male (29%) and female victims (34%) than in the case of child sexual abuse in an offline context. The most frequently reported forms among young adults include unwanted confrontation with pornographic or sexualized material - for example through so-called "dickpics" (21.1%), followed by unwanted sexualized conversations (15%) and unwanted sexualized questions (12.1%). A clear trend emerged with regard to age: the younger the respondents were, the more frequently they reported experiences of online-based child sexual abuse and boundary violations.

The full results of the survey were published in the specialist journal on child protection "Child Abuse & Neglect " (available in English only).

klicksafe material on protection against sexual violence online

klicksafe offers prevention materials for the target groups of parents, teachers and young people. All materials are available for download on our website, some of them can also be ordered in print. Please also see the collection of topics and news articles on this topic below.

This text is partly based on the press release of the University Hospital Ulm. We would like to thank them for their kind support.