What can make a difference is recognizing these issues early and for adults and children to respond together. Children need adults and institutions that show themselves to be trustworthy, so that when something feels wrong, children are listened to, believed and supported. Adults and institutions, in turn, need support to respond with care, not blame or panic. But even the most supportive adults cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. Digital service providers have a critical role to play. Every interaction between a child and an online platform reflects countless design decisions. Those decisions can either make it easier for perpetrators to find and target children, or they can create barriers that stop abuse before it starts. The chapters that follow bring these realities into focus through the voices and experiences of children themselves, drawing on years of largescale surveys and in-depth interviews with children and young people subjected to technology-facilitated sexual abuse or exploitation. This report reveals how the abuse takes many forms, who is behind it, where it begins and how it moves between online and in-person spaces. It explores the difficult journey of disclosure, the profound and lasting impact abuse can have, and the agency and resilience some children show in the face of adversity. Together, these insights lead to a clear conclusion: children should not have to carry this burden alone. The report concludes with recommendations for the actions needed across society to better prevent abuse, support those affected and create a safer world for every child. For more details about the statistics presented in this section, view the Appendix Through Children’s Eyes Introduction 8