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Press
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NEW STUDY SHOWS YOUTH ONLINE EXPOSED TO MORE SEXUAL MATERIAL
AND HARASSMENT
Sexual Solicitation Findings Mixed With an Overall Decrease Except
in the Most Serious Types of Solicitation
 Online
Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later
Alexandria, VA & Durham, NH – August 9, 2006 –
A new national survey of online youth shows increases in exposure
to sexual material and harassment but less sexual solicitation. However,
aggressive solicitations, those in which solicitors made or attempted
to make offline contact, did not decrease.
These results are reported in a study conducted by University of New
Hampshire researchers for the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children® (NCMEC). The survey compared youth experiences
in 1999 and 2000 with those in 2005.
The study found a pronounced increase in Internet users ages 10 to 17
who were exposed to unwanted sexual material – fully one-third in
2005 compared to 25% previously. The study attributed this rise in part
to aggressive tactics by pornography marketers and the increased speed
and capacity of computers and Internet connections to transmit images.
There was also an increase in online harassment, which rose to 9% compared
to 6% in the earlier survey. Study authors said it was consistent with
growing indicators of online incivility among youth. Harassment was defined
as threats or other offensive behavior sent online to the youth or posted
online about the youth for others to see.
At the same time, however, the study found a smaller proportion of online
youth received online sexual solicitations, only 1 in 7 in 2005 compared
to 1 in 5 in 1999 and 2000. The report attributes this to more cautious
behavior by youth fewer of whom went to chatrooms or interacted online
with people they did not know. The study authors think educational messages
and media stories about the dangers of online encounters may have had
some benefit. Sexual solicitations were defined as requests by peers or
adults to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk or give out personal
sexual information.
Unfortunately the most serious kinds of sexual solicitations, those in
which solicitors attempted to make offline contact with youth, did not
decline. According to study authors, this suggests the most determined
offenders have not been deterred and more targeted prevention efforts
may be necessary to reach some youth.
“We’re encouraged to find that sexual solicitations are down,
though it is concerning that the more aggressive attempts to meet offline
have not declined,” noted NCMEC President Ernie Allen. “Increases
in harassment and exposure to sexual material are also disturbing and
show that we need to be adapting our prevention efforts to the changing
risks to youth online.”
The study authors urge Internet providers and host sites to do more to
protect youth from unwanted sexual material, including better filtering
and blocking software and more efficient reporting mechanisms. According
to youth, much of the unwanted pornography was very graphic. Some youth
saw images of people engaged in sexual acts or sexual deviance and violence.
The study authors suggest more should be done to promote the reporting
of offensive behavior and content. Very few of the unwanted sexual solicitations,
harassment or unwanted sexual material were reported to Internet service
providers or any other authority. Youth and their parents were generally
unaware of places they could make reports.
NCMEC operates the CyberTipline to receive online and telephone reports
of child sexual exploitation from individuals and Internet service providers.
Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later is available
from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children online at
www.missingkids.com or 1-800-843-5678. The authors of the report are Janis
Wolak, J.D., Kimberly Mitchell, Ph.D. and David Finkelhor, Ph.D. of the
Crimes against Children Research Center (CCRC) at the University of New
Hampshire. The CCRC, on the web at www.unh.edu/ccrc, is a center devoted
to providing statistics, research and policy analysis to the public and
professionals concerned about victimized children.
The report was based on telephone surveys of two representative samples
of youth in the U.S. ages 10 through 17 and their caretakers. The first
survey of 1,501 youth was conducted between August 1999 and February 2000,
the second survey of 1,500 youth between March and June 2005. The percentages
reported having a margin of error of 2.5%.
About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for
child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 401,200 leads. Since
its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more
than 122,600 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than
104,900 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free,
24 hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.
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