More than 300 million children a year face sexual abuse online, study suggests

Research found one in eight, or 12.6%, of the world’s children have been victims of non-consensual talking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and video in the past year

The research suggests 300 million children face some sort of sexual abuse online every year Picture: PA

More than 300 million children a year are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse, according to research.

In what marks the first global estimate of the scale of the crisis, researchers at the University of Edinburgh found one in eight, or 12.6%, of the world’s children have been victims of non-consensual talking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and video in the past year, amounting to about 302 million young people.