In a dangerous trend, a growing number of children are falling prey to sexual abuse due to the misuse of the internet, according to a study conducted by the Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN), a pioneer child rights organisation in Nepal.

The growing internet usage among children has led to their facing online sexual exploitation. The sexual abuse of children and teenagers not only has transcended the virtual world but has also expanded to face to face meeting.

Male children and adolescents account for nearly twice the number of children facing such mistreatment compared to female children and adolescents, reported the Himalayan newspaper.

CWIN Executive Director Sumnima Tuladhar said that compared to girls more boys faced the pressure to post nude photos, sexting, and nude videos online.

Among those asking the children to send and text sexually explicit photos, audio, and video, included lovers, peers, close friends, and, in many situations, strangers as well. It is found that some foreigners were also involved.

The study, which was conducted in 2020 in all the seven provinces of the country, covered 1,714 children in the age group of nine to 19 years, also found that social networking sites and email have mostly been used as the medium for sending sex-related materials to girlfriends, boyfriends and close friends, while social networking sites, email, unknown links, and phones are used for sending such materials to unknown persons and foreigners.

"Around 63.36 percent males and 34.35 percent females had asked children to be naked in front of the camera. Those exerting pressure to be naked are their friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, relatives, close friends, and some unknown persons," the report said.

Among the respondents, 137 (7.99 percent) were asked to be naked in front of a camera. Similarly, 58 male (62 percent), 47 female (34.31 percent), and two people (1.46 percent) from marginalised communities had to face pressure to get naked.

Out of 1,714 respondents, 457 people (26.66 percent) were found to have met unknown persons online. Of them, 154 (33 percent) had met physically the unknown persons. All of them, who went to meet them, were sexually exploited in some form or the other.

Out of the total respondents, 340 (19.83 percent) mentioned that they faced unintentional online sexual abuse.

The repercussions of facing such sexual abuse led many children to drop out of school.

Of the 340 respondents who fell victim to sexual abuse, 48 (14.12 percent) dropped out of school as a result. Of them, only 15 sought counseling, and the remaining 34 said they faced difficulties in their life following the crime. Of those, who sought counseling, only nine got the service.

Of the 340 respondents, who survived sexual abuse, 233 (68.53 percent) reported the crime to family members or friends, or police.

Fear and shame led many children to disconnect themselves from society by removing their social networking site accounts, blocking phone numbers, ignoring phone calls and SMS, avoiding internet use, changing phone SIM cards and even opening new accounts on social sites.