There were 15,630 incidents of online sexual offences against children and 45,816 incidents of online child pornography reported by police in Canada from 2014 to 2022.
Advancements in technology and increased Internet accessibility have provided Canadians with a wide range of opportunities for enhancing daily life. However, these advancements come with increased concerns over the online safety of individuals—particularly children and youth. Specifically, online child sexual exploitation, including the transmission of material related to child sexual abuse, sexting, sextortion, grooming and luring, and live child sexual abuse streaming has been on the rise. For the purposes of this article, children are aged 0 to 11 years and youth are aged 12 to 17 years.
A Juristat article released today, "Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2022," presents overall trends and characteristics of online sexual offences against children and online child pornography offences, based on data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
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