The expansion of the internet lies parallel to the explosion of the child sexual abuse material market.
2.5 Million
The most shared child abuse file has been seen linked with over 2.5 million unique IP addresses.
50 - 150
Predators typically have between 50 and 150 victims over the course of their lifetimes.
72.5 Million
Since inception, CRC has identified 72.5 million unique IP addresses worldwide sharing and downloading sexually explicit images and videos of children.
7 - 13
Children are most vulnerable to child sexual abuse between the ages of 7 and 13.
1 in 5
As many as 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before age 18.
90 %
90% of children who suffered sexual abuse were violated by someone known to the family.
With the amplification of the internet and digital technologies, the circulation of child sexual abuse material – sometimes inaccurately referred to as “child pornography” – has exploded worldwide.
The Role of Technology
Images and videos of sexual abuse are readily available through virtually every internet technology today, including social networking websites, file-sharing sites, photo-sharing sites, gaming devices, and even mobile apps. These predators can also connect on internet forums and networks to share their interests, desires, and experiences abusing children, in addition to selling, sharing, and trading images of their abuse.
An Offline Problem
The proliferation of these networks permits this sharing to take place at a larger scale, which has increased both the number and egregiousness of offenses. Even worse, it has moved the problem offline, creating a deplorable secondary after-effect where sex offenders use the internet to stalk children, and trade tips on how to lure them into sexual encounters. With this information, these victims can then be sexually assaulted in order to produce this material, and victimized every time these images are shared over the internet.
Unlimited Access
Today, child predators have virtually unlimited access to child sexual abuse material due to the easy, anonymous, and on-demand availability of these illicit graphic images and videos of child victims. The vast majority — a staggering 85 percent — have become hands-on abusers. Whether or not child sexual abuse material is stored on a computer or shared online, it still represents a violent criminal act of sexual abuse and is just as vicious as having manufactured it in the first place.