include age-appropriate education that helps children understand their rights and responsibilities
when interacting online. Where appropriate, responses should include the early identification and
assessment of harmful sexual behaviours among children, with referral to evidence-based, childcentred therapeutic interventions that are tailored to the child's age, development, needs and
circumstances.
At the same time, abuse perpetrated by adults require continued attention. Adults use technology
to pressure, manipulate and exploit children, including through relationships where perpetrators
seek to establish trust or influence. Together, these findings highlight the need for prevention
approaches that address harmful behaviours across age groups while ensuring that children
subjected to abuse receive appropriate protection, support and care.
Finding: “In 38 per cent of cases on average, children first met the perpetrator online, making the
internet the most common point of contact for the types of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation
and abuse captured in the second round of the Disrupting Harm surveys. This was closely followed
by school (26 per cent) and public places (23 per cent), underscoring that risks span both digital and
physical environments.”
Table overview: Table A12 presents the distribution of technology-facilitated child sexual
exploitation and abuse instances by the location where the child first met the perpetrator. Using
data from the second round of the Disrupting Harm study across nine countries, the table
shows the proportion of instances by reported location where the child first met the perpetrator,
including at school, on the internet, at home, in a public place, at a place where they do sports, or
another location. As this was a multiple-choice question, the percentages sometimes add up to
more than 100 per cent.
Table A12: Percentage of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse instances by
the location where the child first met the perpetrator (2024–2025).
Country
At school
On the
internet
At home
At a
public
place
At a place
where I
do sports
Other
Armenia
18.2
61.2
26
12.1
4.2
0
Brazil
24.5
55.5
8.5
12
2.6
2
Colombia
26.6
35.3
23.7
14.4
4
2.1
Dominican
Republic
38.1
35.3
15.2
13.5
4.6
4
Mexico
37.3
31.9
11.2
16.5
2.1
0
Through Children’s Eyes
Appendix
71