70% of Child and Adolescent Victims of Sexual Exploitation Are Exposed Through Chat Apps and SNS

Publication of the 2022 Annual Report of the Support Center for Children and Adolescents Victimized by Sexual Exploitation

Every year, 862 children and adolescents are reported as victims of sex trafficking, with 7 out of 10 victims experiencing harm through online platforms such as chat apps or social networking services (SNS).

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute published the "2022 Annual Report of the Support Centers for Children and Adolescents Victimized by Sex Trafficking" on the 31st, containing these findings.

The 17 nationwide support centers for children and adolescents victimized by sex trafficking provided over 21,000 support services to a total of 862 individuals last year. The number of victims increased by 18.6% compared to the previous year (727), and the integrated services provided by the centers rose by 70.7% year-on-year.

According to the report, 847 victims (98.3%) were female, and 15 (1.7%) were male.

By age group, those aged 14 to 16 accounted for the largest number at 393 (45.6%), followed by 17 to 19 years old at 314 (36.4%), 10 to 13 years old at 53 (6.2%), and those aged 20 and above at 82 (9.5%).

The number of victims with disabilities was 65 (7.5%), approximately 1.4 times higher than in 2021 (47).

Regarding the routes through which victims were exploited, chat apps accounted for 423 cases (49.1%), nearly half. Additionally, SNS accounted for 428 cases (28.8%), meaning that over 70% of the victims were harmed online. Children and adolescents who suffered harm offline from business operators, brokers, or loan sharks numbered 71 (8.2%).

The main intermediaries facilitating sex trafficking were friends or acquaintances, accounting for 234 cases (27.1%), the highest proportion.

The services provided by the centers included counseling with 14,576 cases (68.2%), legal support with 2,586 cases (12.1%), psychological support with 1,399 cases (6.5%), medical support with 1,253 cases (5.8%), and emergency support with 696 cases (3.3%). Additionally, the centers conducted counseling services for parents and other legal guardians (2,987 cases) to help victims return to daily life.

Furthermore, the centers carried out online sex trafficking monitoring activities, such as reporting sexually exploitative posts and discovering victims (12,805 times), and conducted field visits (268 times) to areas densely populated with entertainment establishments, striving to prevent sex trafficking and rescue victims.

Choi Seong-ji, Director of the Rights Promotion Bureau at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, stated, "We will strengthen customized support considering the characteristics of children and adolescents victimized by sexual exploitation and make policy efforts such as improving the online environment to prevent children and adolescents from being exposed to the risk of sexual exploitation."

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