Online Sexual Exploitation in Armenia: Concerning Statistics

UNICEF has conducted a study on the topic of "Preventing Harm in Armenia," revealing highly alarming data. This was discussed by Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports Araksya Svajyan during a meeting of the Public Council under the minister.

According to the report, one disturbing finding is that one in twenty internet-using children aged 12 to 17 has experienced online sexual exploitation or abuse within a year. In 71 percent of the cases, the incidents occurred entirely in an online environment, and in 57 percent of the cases, the children reported that they were targeted by someone they knew.

These statistics are quite high and worrying. Of the children who participated in the study and reported experiencing violence, 53 percent stated that they had never told anyone about the incidents and had kept the situation to themselves. Naturally, there are children who find the strength to escape these situations and manage to find solutions independently, but often we encounter situations where a child experiences severe trauma, loses motivation towards learning, isolates themselves, and so on. The cause of this is often not understood by anyone, while it may frequently stem from similar troubling situations.

The Deputy Minister also presented some international indicators related to this issue. For example, there is a statistic indicating that around 1.2 million children fall victim to sexually explicit fake content created using deepfake technologies within a year.