New Sifo: Nearly one in ten teenage girls has been a victim of paid abuse

Nearly one in ten teenage girls has been the victim of paid sexual abuse, according to a Sifo survey commissioned by ChildX in October 2023. 7% of girls aged 15-19 surveyed have been paid to send sexual material on Snapchat.

– Children and young people are lured into this form of exploitation through manipulation, threats or promises of easy money. Giving the payment is one of the perpetrators’ tools to silence and blame the child. This is always serious abuse but the perpetrators often make it appear that the child is in control and then the boundaries are shifted,” says Ida Östensson, Secretary General of ChildX.

Paid child sexual abuse is rampant online, and abuse is increasing on social media platforms targeting young people. That’s why ChildX launched a campaign this week to highlight the vulnerability of children and young people to sexual abuse using the internet as a tool. On Childx.se, parents can find tips on how to talk to their children about the risks of the internet, and what they can do if their child has been exposed.

– It is an insult to be asked these kinds of questions at all. The fact that so many girls are contacted about this risks both normalization and an increase in the number of children and young people who are subjected to paid abuse, which is very serious,” Ida concludes.

For more info: contact hanna@childx.se

About the Sifo survey: the survey was conducted in October 2023 and was answered by 1001 people aged between 15 and 19. The respondents are a representative cross-section of the population of those ages.

Read the annex on the survey