A/HRC/52/61 entail different forms of violence and harm, which include cyberbullying and harassment; online sexual exploitation and abuse; exposure to violent and sexual content; promotion of suicide and self-harm; hate speech; discrimination, racism and xenophobia; trafficking and smuggling; recruitment into criminal, armed or violent extremist groups; economic exploitation; marketing of harmful or inappropriate goods and services; and fraud and identity theft.16 Children may be exposed to multiple forms of violence online, which are often associated with experiences of violence offline. 17 The Special Representative has consequently identified the protection of children from violence in the digital environment as demanding particular attention within the context of efforts to end violence against children by 2030. 52. While the forms of risk to children in the digital environment have been well identified, the lack of global, comprehensive data on violence against children in that environment remains a challenge. Welcome steps have been taken to increase understanding of the depth and complexity of such violence, although disparities exist in terms of the volume of research conducted on different types of violence online, with some forms, such as cyberbullying and sexual violence, receiving greater attention than others. Notwithstanding the gaps that remain, the data that already exist on children’s exposure to violence and harm online are alarming. 53. In a meta-analysis of international studies, 15 per cent of children reported cyberbullying victimization.18 Perpetrators of cyberbullying are more likely to be victims themselves and online and offline perpetration and victimization are highly correlated. Overall, boys are more likely than girls to be perpetrators or victim-perpetrators. Girls tend to be targeted more frequently than boys based on their appearance, weight, or sexuality and are more likely to be the victims of gender-based harassment, exclusion or reputational damage. Being the target of cyberbullying is associated with having a physical or developmental disability, living with a single parent, a perceived poor school environment and social anxiety, including the fear of a negative evaluation by peers. Cyberbullying victimization is also linked to many externalizing behaviours, 19 including self-harm, substance use, the viewing of suicide- and self-harm-related content and more frequent mobile or Internet use. The witnessing of cyberbullying, even if the witness is not a perpetrator or a victim, can have an adverse effect on children’s quality of life over time. 54. In 2021, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (United States of America) received 29.3 million reports of child sexual abuse and exploitation from around the world, an increase of 35 per cent over 2020.20 The Disrupting Harm research project implemented across 13 countries estimates that at least 1-20 per cent of children were subjected to online child sexual exploitation and abuse in the past year alone. Scaled to the general population of Internet-using children, these estimates represent tens of thousands or millions of children, depending on the country.21 Research undertaken by the WeProtect Global Alliance indicates that the rate at which children experienced sexual harm was higher for girls (57 per cent) than for boys (48 per cent). The devastating impact of sexual violence in childhood is well established.22 Technology-facilitated abuse creates extra challenges for 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 GE.22-29128 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 25 (2021). World Health Organization, What Works to Prevent Online Violence against Children? (Geneva, 2022). Ibid. Mariya Stoilov, Sonia Livingstone and Rana Khazbak, “Investigating risks and opportunities for children in a digital world: a rapid review of the evidence on children’s internet use and outcomes”, Innocenti Discussion Papers, No. 2020-03 (Florence, Italy, UNICEF Office of Research (Innocenti), 2021). See https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline/cybertiplinedata. UNICEF Office of Research (Innocenti), “The relationship between online and in-person child sexual exploitation and abuse”, Disrupting Harm Data Insight, No. 6 (Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, 2022). UNICEF, Ending Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: Lessons Learned and Promising Practices in Low- and Middle-income Countries (New York, 2021). 11