1 in 10 Middle and High School Students Experience Unwanted Sexual Solicitation Online

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Announces 'Sex Trade Survey' Results
2.7% of Middle and High School Students Experienced Meeting Invitations
Encounters Mainly Through Instant Messengers, SNS, and Online Games

Academic Incentive Pathways (%, Provided by Ministry of Gender Equality and Family)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] One in ten middle and high school students has experienced sexual enticement online.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family conducted a survey on the actual conditions of prostitution from May to November last year and announced the results. This survey newly included an investigation of sexual enticement experiences among nationwide middle and high school students and conversation analysis within random chat apps to understand the sexual risks youth face online.

According to the survey results, 11.1% of 6,423 middle and high school students nationwide reported experiencing unwanted sexual enticement online. Among all respondents, 2.7% experienced enticement leading to meetings.

The places where sexual enticement occurred most frequently were instant messengers such as KakaoTalk and Facebook Messenger (28.1%), social networking services like Twitter and Instagram (27.8%), and internet games (14.3%). Most enticers were people first met online.

Among respondents who experienced sexual enticement online (713 people), 54% did not report the incident, and among victims of enticement related to prostitution (34 people), they did not report because they did not want anyone to know.

Among at-risk youth respondents (166 people), 47.6% experienced transactional meetings, and 87.2% of those meetings were arranged online. Among respondents who experienced both running away from home and transactional meetings, 77.3% first experienced transactional meetings after running away.

Based on 399 random chat applications, conversations with 2,230 people pretending to be women aged 13, 16, 19, and 23 were analyzed. Most of the subjects were under their 30s (89.8%), and in cases involving minors (1,605 people), sexual purpose conversations accounted for 76.8%, and more than half continued conversations after recognizing the minor status.

Reviewing 15 prostitution review sites, the daily visitors were 38,511, daily page views were 444,428, registered businesses numbered 7,973, and review posts totaled 983,684. On YouTube, 2,425 videos promoting prostitution were found, with only 17.9% requiring adult verification.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to designate random chat apps as harmful media for youth in the second half of this year, establish legal grounds for punishing grooming crimes, and continuously promote institutional improvements such as undercover investigations.

Minister Lee Jung-ok of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said, "Youth familiar with the digital environment are at higher risk of experiencing sexual enticement and prostitution harm," and added, "We will make every effort to prevent sexual crimes against youth and women, including prostitution, and protect victims."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.