which shows that Internet content rating and children's media
literacy need to be enhanced.
Digital Sexual Exploitation and Online Grooming
16. From 2017 to 2020, the number of reported child sexual exploitation
victims has been on the rise,10 with the largest number of reported cases
being sexual exploitation related to intimate images, and most of the
victims were victims of grooming and deception.11 In addition, a high
percentage of children whose intimate images were leaked did not seek
help12 as they did not know who to turn to. This indicates that children
did not know the boundaries of privacy or the law, and some of them
were not familiar with the complaint channels and were unable to seek
help in time.
17. According to investigation and survey conducted by the Control Yuan13
and an NGO, 14 37.7% of children have used dating apps, of which
11.8% have been asked to meet their online friends alone and 18.8%
have gone to the meetup alone. Furthermore, about 6,500 children go
missing and leave home each year. Data from 2019 shows more than
60% of the children who were sexually exploited were groomed over
the Internet, indicating that crimes involving online grooming and
sexual exploitation are rampant.
10
11
12
13
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According to the MOHW, 1,691 victims were reported in 2020, an increase of more than 30%
compared to 1,060 in 2017.
According to MOHW data, among the 1,696 reported cases of child sexual exploitation victims in
2020, there were 1,377 cases (81.19%) of "using a child or youth to engage in sexual intercourse or
obscene acts for others to watch" (44 cases) and "filming a child or youth engaging in sexual
intercourse or obscene acts, or producing other objects that show a child or youth engaging in
sexual intercourse or obscene acts" (1,333 cases).
According to the 2019 iWIN results report, a survey was conducted on 25,069 children aged 11-18
in 380 senior (or vocational) high schools, junior high schools and elementary schools across
Taiwan, and it was found that 1,616 (6.45%) children were victims of intimate image leak, and
43.5% did not seek help; among them, 33.5% did not seek help because they did not know who to
seek help from.
The Control Yuan investigation report approved on Jul 6, 2021. (Missing Child and Court Bail for
Major Sexual Exploitation Defendant)
Child Welfare League Foundation (2018). 2018 Survey of Children’s Usage of Dating App, Their
Online Friendship and How They Leave Home. Retrieved from
https://www.children.org.tw/publication_research/research_report/2232
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