Tag: sexual exploitation

Childline counselling sessions about online child sexual abuse jump by over a third in one year

  • Alarming new figures reveal that last year Childline delivered over 2,400 counselling sessions to children and young people across the UK about online child sexual abuse and exploitation – an annual increase of 36%.
  • Overall, the service delivered over 4,300 counselling sessions to children and young people across the UK with concerns about online harms.
  • NSPCC urges the Government to go further than a ban and take three key actions when their online safety consultation concludes to force tech companies to keep children safe.
  • The charity has also launched a new campaign Shift Ctrl which highlights how online harm disrupts the everyday lives of young people.

Children’s charity the NSPCC are raising the alarm as Childline counselling sessions across the UK about online child sexual abuse and exploitation jumped by more than a third in the last year.

New data from the NSPCC-run service reveals that between April 2025 and March 2026 Childline delivered 2,444 counselling sessions across the UK about online child sexual abuse and exploitation, marking a 36% annual increase.

These figures feed into and reflect a wider problem, with 4,321 counselling sessions taking place about all online harms, including online child sexual abuse, cyberbullying and concerns about young people’s digital behaviour – a 30% increase compared on the year before.

The NSPCC is highlighting these findings as further evidence of how tech companies are failing to protect children across their sites, arguing that without swift action the risks young people face online will get even worse.

Speaking to the service, children described encountering inappropriate and harmful content, falling for online scams, being bullied online and facing privacy concerns on big tech platforms.

They also shared reflections on their social media behaviour and sought advice on managing their screen time and online habits.

Of the 2,444 contacts about online child sexual abuse, young people spoke about being scared that images of them would be shared, about being financially extorted, and the impact this form of abuse could have on their futures. Many asked for support on how to speak to an adult about this.

One 14-year-old girl who contacted Childline said: “I met a guy online and he managed to get photos of me in my underwear. I didn’t send them to him, so I don’t know how he got them.

“He threatened to put my photos on adult websites if I don’t send him more photos. I’m so scared. I’ve reported him online and I’m wondering if I should go to the police too.”

At the same, the children’s charity has launched its Shift Ctrl campaign which highlights how online harm disrupts the everyday lives of young people. It calls on the public to join the charity in demanding urgent action from Government and tech companies to create a safer online world for children.

A video[SM1]  promoting the campaign will appear on various on‑demand TV services, in cinemas (including before The Mandalorian and Grogu), across online video and social media platforms and on billboards across the UK.

As the Government consults on children’s access to social media, the charity is setting out three key actions that they must take to hold tech companies to account and keep children safe:

  1. Make sure teens get genuinely age‑appropriate experiences – platforms must be safe before children can use them.
  2. Stop platforms using addictive design tricks that leave young people feeling out of control.
  3. Use the full force of the law to block illegal and harmful content e.g. nude images at the source across online services, including on devices and AI.

Chris Sherwood, CEO at the NSPCC, said: “For far too long, tech companies have prioritised profit over the wellbeing of children, playing fast and loose with their safety. Enough is enough.

“Behind each of these Childline counselling sessions is a child in distress, using an online world with features that are designed to put them at risk.

“It is crucial that the Government uses their consultation on children’s access to the online world as a springboard to finally hold platforms to account for this harm and to force them to make these spaces safe for young users. This includes ensuring tech companies take action in blocking nude images of children from being taken and shared in real time.

“I urge everyone who cares about creating a safer online world for children to take part in the public consultation before it closes. Together, we can put an end to this harm and give children the safety they need and deserve and parents demand.”

Kerry Smith, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said: “Everywhere we look online, children are being sexually exploited. Girls are facing increasingly normalised sexual violence, while boys are being singled out by criminals who capitalise on feelings of shame and fear to extort money from them.

 “Our analysts are discovering record amounts of child sexual abuse imagery online. Stopping this downward spiral and working to create an internet where everyone can flourish needs to be the priority. Safety by design needs to be a guiding principle – and new products and platforms must be built to make sure there is nowhere where criminals can target and exploit children.

 “This must apply to all parts of the internet, even those which are end to end encrypted. Currently, it is just too easy for criminals to target and exploit children and young people. Everybody must play their part in making sure children can learn, play, and socialise online in safety.”

You can submit your response to the Government’s consultation here.

Banning purchase of sex ‘won’t reduce sexual exploitation’

  • Official Scottish Government research finds banning purchase of sex would have “limited impact” on stopping trafficking and sexual exploitation
  • Ministers warned of “notable evidence gaps” behind Ash Regan’s claims that tackling demand for sex would reduce harm
  • Victims Minister Siobhian Brown says evidence raises “significant questions and concerns” about Regan’s Nordic Model Bill

Ash Regan’s proposals to outlaw the purchase of sex have been dealt a hammer blow after the Scottish Government admitted that the measures would have “limited impact” on stopping trafficking and exploitation, according to national sex worker group Ugly Mugs.

Official Scottish Government research, published last week, acknowledges that there are “notable evidence gaps” behind claims by supporters of Ms Regan’s Bill that prosecuting sex buyers would reduce exploitation in Scotland.

Civil servants spent months trawling international evidence on tackling trafficking and sexual exploitation.

In their conclusions, published last week, they write: “Much of the literature reviewed focuses on criminal justice interventions. This tends to focus on the effectiveness of preventative measures which aim to reduce demand for prostitution (e.g. via deterrence). The evidence reviewed suggests that such measures may have limited impact on preventing trafficking and sexual exploitation.”

The research was published on the same day that Siobhian Brown, the Victims and Community Safety Minister, told MSPs scrutinising Ms Regan’s Bill that she had “significant questions and concerns” about the proposed legislation.

In a letter to the Criminal Justice Committee, Ms Brown cited “challenges experienced internationally” in implementing similar legislation, and said she had “concerns about the accuracy” of Ms Regan’s cost estimates of implementing the Bill.

The minister wrote: “There remain significant questions and concerns regarding the measures within the Bill and how they would work in practice, the extent to which they would deliver on the policy intent, and the associated financial implications.”

Sex worker groups, led by National Ugly Mugs, the UK’s national sex worker safety charity, have repeatedly warned that criminalising clients has no impact on stopping exploitation and would only make life more difficult and dangerous for sex workers, by pushing the industry underground.

Lynsey Walton, chief executive of National Ugly Mugs, said: “Sex worker groups, alongside leading NGOs like Amnesty and the World Health Organisation, have long warned that criminalising the purchase of sex only serves to make life more difficult and dangerous for sex workers, while having no impact on trafficking and exploitation.

“We are pleased that the Scottish Government has now accepted that the international evidence backs this up. MSPs now need to pull the plug on Ms Regan’s misguided and dangerous legislation, and focus on supporting sex workers’ rights to work safely and free from stigma.”

The Scottish Government research comes after independent reviews carried out for the Irish and Northern Irish governments – which have both criminalised the purchase of sex – found that the Nordic Model had not reduced the demand for sexual services in each country.

The Northern Irish review found that there was “no evidence that the offence of purchasing sexual services has produced a downward pressure on the demand for, or supply of, sexual services”. It also found that “the legislation has contributed to a climate whereby sex workers feel further marginalised and stigmatised”.

The Irish Government’s review, published earlier this year, found that after seven years of the legislation being in force, just 15 men had been convicted for purchasing sex. Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said: “Regrettably, the review highlights that despite the criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services, demand has not decreased.”