Australian girls caught in an evil web of predators new study from eSafety Commission finds

More than a quarter of the nation’s girls have been sexually propositioned online or via phone messages, a groundbreaking national study undertaken by the eSafety Commission has revealed.

More than a quarter of Australian girls have been sexually propositioned online or via phone messages, a groundbreaking national study has revealed, amid a number of disturbing findings that have sparked renewed pleas for parents to discuss internet safety with their kids.

The joint research project between the Office of the ­eSafety Commissioner and the Queensland University of Technology surveyed 3500 Australians aged 16 to 24, finding 26.3 per cent of female respondents had experienced “online sexual solicitation” by an adult before they were 18.

Of the young women who answered “yes” to the question “did an adult ever ask you over the internet or a mobile phone to talk about sex or send sexual images”, 80 per cent said the grooming had started by the time they turned 15, and one in four said they had been solicited before age 12.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has urged parents to educate their daughters about where to find help. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Girls were “significantly more likely” to be victims of solicitation than boys, 7.6 per cent of whom reported being approached sexually when they were under 18.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant described the results as “absolutely startling”, urging families to talk about the risks of using “co-mingled” social media, messaging and gaming platforms with their young children – especially daughters – and educate them about where to find help.

“Prevention is just as important as enforcement,” Ms Inman Grant said.

“The best way to protect children is through open and ongoing conversations about online risks and by playing an active role in their online lives.

“Parents and carers play a unique and vital role.”

The new research is based on the ongoing and first-of-its-kind Australian Child Maltreatment Study which interviewed 8500 Australians in 2021 to uncover the prevalence of child abuse – physical, sexual and emotion – neglect and exposure to domestic violence.

In total 28.5 per cent of Australians over the age of 16 have experienced child sexual abuse, the study found.

One in four respondents to the survey said they had experienced online sexual solicitation before the age of 12. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

Lead investigator Professor Ben Mathews said the latest findings also contain a concerning high prevalence of image-based abuse, which involves nudes and other intimate pictures and videos being taken or shared without permission.

More than one in ten girls had been victims of the “nonconsensual sharing of sexual images” and almost half of perpetrators were other adolescents. Around one in four were current or former romantic partners.

“Bear in mind that we were asking these people this question in 2021 – it’s likely that that figure’s even higher now,” he said.

“The experience of having intimate pictures shared without your consent, beyond your control, to people you don’t know – and potentially to many, many people you don’t know – can be very, very harmful and can be associated with extreme distress and trauma.”

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