Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Jun 25: Karnataka has reported the highest number of children falling victim to online sexual abuse and harassment, according to a state-level study. The findings also indicate that most parents, teachers, and government officials are not adequately prepared to handle or prevent such threats.

The study, focused on online sexual exploitation and violence against children, was released by the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) in collaboration with ChildFund India. It highlights growing concerns around online safety for children, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which screen time and internet usage among children increased significantly.

The research was conducted across five districts in Karnataka—Bengaluru, Chamarajanagar, Raichur, Chikkamagaluru, and Belagavi—covering a sample of 903 school-going children aged between 8 and 18 years. A multi-stage sampling method was used, selecting six schools from each district and interviewing 30 students from each school across three age categories: 8–11, 12–14, and 15–18 years.

Due to the allure of digital popularity, the report found that one in six adolescents in Karnataka had contacted strangers online in the past year. Alarmingly, one in ten (17% boys and 4% girls) even met these strangers in person. Children in rural areas (12%) were more likely to meet strangers offline compared to those in urban areas (9%).

A particularly worrying statistic is that 1% of children admitted to sharing intimate photos or videos with strangers online. Additionally, 7% of the surveyed children revealed they had shared personal information—such as full names, phone numbers, personal photos, home addresses, and videos—with strangers on the internet.

The study also found that children in the 15–18 age group were more vulnerable to unsafe online interactions. Around 5% of them reported feeling distressed due to negative online experiences, with 77% of such incidents linked to Instagram. While 53% of these children said the perpetrators were strangers, 35% said they were known individuals, and 12% experienced harassment from both known and unknown sources.

Despite the gravity of these issues, only 34% of parents took formal action by reporting to the police. Most preferred to block the offender or delete the chat history as their response.