Sexual predators on the rise, data shows
Revealing unsettling data on the sexual abuse of children on Monday, Deputy Parliament Speaker Odysseas Konstantinopoulos said it is an “obligation and duty of everyone to protect our children from sexual predators.”
Indicatively, almost not a day goes by without a complaint being filed about sexual abuse of a minor, according official data. Moreover a case file is opened almost every two days. Hellenic Police (ELSAS) data show that in Attica alone, complaints of rape and seduction of a minor, in 2023, have increased by 33%.
Speaking on the occasion of European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, Konstantinopoulos said the European Commission is now focusing more on reversing the growing wave of sexual abuse of children via the internet. He added that in 2021, 85 million images and videos with this content were reported by internet companies, while victims rarely disclose the incident and the abuse is often committed by a person in the child’s circle of trust and often from the child’s own home.
“Unfortunately, the current system of voluntary reporting is not effective enough. Currently, 95% of all complaints come from only one service provider,” he said. According to the Council of Europe, one in five children is a victim of some form of sexual violence. One in three never tells anyone about the abuse and 70% to 85% of them know their abusers.
