Over 300 million children around the world have been affected by online sexual abuse in the last year, new research from the University of Edinburgh’s Childlight Global Safety Institute shows.

The Light Index aims to produce a global chronical of the scale and nature of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and how this proliferates online.

The picture painted by the data is stark, detailing how pervasive this despicable crime is across the world.

One on eight children globally, meaning over 300m, have been subjected to online solicitation in the last 12 months, such as unwanted sexual talk, which can include non-consensual sexting, unwanted sexual questions and unwanted sexual act requests by adults or other youths.

Further, one in eight children across the globe have experienced non-consensual taking, sharing or exposure to sexual images and videos in the last 12 months.

Child online sexual abuse existed in ever country that recorded it, with instances ranging from non-consensual sexual online contact, to sextortion: the solicitation of sexual acts or imagery often via coercion or threatening behaviour.

Globally, 3.5% of children experience sexual extortion, according to the report.

“This is on a staggering scale that in the UK alone equates to forming a line of male offenders that could stretch all the way from Glasgow to London – or filling Wembley Stadium 20 times over,” Paul Stanfrield, CEO of Childlight, said.

“Child abuse material is so prevalent that files are on average reported to watchdog and policing organisations once every second.”

The survey also revealed patterns among perpetrators – 9% of men globally have said that they have engaged in online behaviours at some point in their lifetime that could be classes as online child sexual abuse offending. Further, even more men said that they would be more likely to engage in these activities if it was more difficult for them to get caught.

“And yet paradoxically, this coincides with the roll out of end-to-end encryption on major file-sharing platforms that are increasingly used to secretly share sexual images of children,” Paul Stanfield said.

“Just when more than ever we need to shine a light to protect our children, with reports of child sexual exploitation and abuse material being filed once every second, lights are being turned off.

“If encryption of file sharing is to be the norm, a balance clearly must be struck that meets the desire for privacy for all users, with adequate proactive detection of child sexual abuse material online.”

Encryption has been a worry of child advocacy groups since its mainstream introduction to messaging apps. End-to-end encryption allows for increased privacy of messages from law enforcement and companies, but equally provides privacy to those using messaging platforms to commit or solicit criminal activity.

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During its tumultuous period as a draft Bill, the Online Safety Act toyed with the possibility of removing end-to-end encryption in an effort to mitigate the potential harms it can enable, such as the sharing of child sexual abuse materials or the direct targeting of children.

These measures were squashed, largely due to concerns over overall privacy as well as the difficulty associated with rolling out the technology whilst maintaining a level of privacy. balancing privacy, and child safety without turning to total surveillance continues to confound governments, privacy rights groups, and child safety advocates alike.

But the Childlight report highlights the pervasive issue of child sexual abuse online. Other reports, notably from Ofcom, shows how the expanding digital landscape, as well as advances in AI and deepfake creation, have created even more avenues for perpetrators to enact their crimes or access child abuse material.

The problem is prolific, and Childlight’s haunting survey shows that even more perpetrators would exist if they were given the means, meaning that even more children would face these harms.