Prevent sexual violence: Strategies focused on the digital environment

Sexual violence can occur online, particularly on the Internet or through various digital technologies and devices, such as smartphones, computers, or servers. It can take the form of harassment, blackmail, threats, non-consensual receipt or publication of intimate images, child luring, and online sexual exploitation of children and youth, also known as child pornography.

Although online violence shares common factors with offline violence, certain characteristics of the digital environment can create a context conducive to such violence, such as anonymity, rapid content sharing, and the absence or lack of moderation on certain sites1,2.

Specific strategies for the digital environment are needed to ensure and strengthen the safety of the entire population in this context, especially girls and women, who are particularly vulnerable to online violence3. Children and youth are also a more vulnerable group when it comes to online risks and dangers4.

Digital environment: Factors and prevention strategies

Examples of factors related to the digital environment

Factors that contribute to violence

  • Characteristics of the digital environment, such as anonymity, rapid content sharing, and lack of moderation

Examples of prevention strategies

Norms and standards to protect children and youth online

Imposing rules, norms, and standards on the digital industry can be useful in protecting children and youth online and ensuring their safety in this environment. Some experts and organizations insist that children’s well-being and rights be a priority in the design and regulation of technologies and applications5.

This may include efforts to create applications that are “secure by design” for children and young people, protecting them from dangers and risks upstream. Technologies and applications intended for this audience should also be adapted to their age and stage of development. They should also be transparent in terms of personal information management and parental control4,6,7.

Measures and laws imposed on the digital industry

At the population level, several measures and sanctions can be imposed on the digital industry to eliminate or reduce online risks and dangers, including those related to manifestations of online sexual violence. Examples include the automatic detection of harmful content, its filtering, and its automatic removal4,8.

Several measures and laws are already in place to detect material depicting the online sexual exploitation of children and youth. In Canada, individuals or entities that provide Internet services to the public are required to report websites known or suspected to contain or transmit child sexual exploitation material, under An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service9.

Other technological measures also aim to prevent this violence. Warning messages and chatbots have been developed to appear on certain websites and prevent access to or distribution of sexually exploitative material4,10,11. Evaluation studies show that these messages reduce the number of searches for child sexual exploitation material online. Chatbots that share support resources for people affected by their sexual attraction to children are also successful in redirecting some people to these resources10,11.

References

  1. UN Women (2022). Accelerating efforts to tackle online and technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, [en ligne], United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), <https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/Accelerating-effort…; (consulté le 29 mai 2025).
  2. Henry, N., et A. Powell (2018). « Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence: A Literature Review of Empirical Research », Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, vol. 19, n° 2, p. 195‑208.
  3. UN Women (2022). Accelerating efforts to tackle online and technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, [en ligne], UN Women, <https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/Accelerating-effort…; (consulté le 10 juillet 2025).
  4. World Health Organization (2022). What Works to Prevent Violence Against Children Online?, [en ligne], Geneva, World Health Organization, <https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/364706/9789240062061-eng.pd…; (consulté le 26 mars 2025).
  5. Assemblée nationale du Québec (2025). Commission spéciale sur les impacts des écrans et des réseaux sociaux sur la santé et le développement des jeunes - Rapport, [en ligne], Québec, Assemblée nationale du Québec, <https://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/actualites-salle-presse/communiques/communi…; (consulté le 6 juin 2025).
  6. Centre canadien de protection de l’enfance (2022). Analyse du contrôle du respect des classifications par âge des applis dans l’App Store d’Apple et Google Play, [en ligne], Centre canadien de protection de l’enfance, <https://content.c3p.ca/pdfs/C3P_AppAgeRatingReport_fr.pdf&gt; (consulté le 29 avril 2025).
  7. Grace, T. D., C. Abel et K. Salen (19 juin 2023). « Child-Centered Design in the Digital World: Investigating the Implications of the Age-Appropriate Design Code for Interactive Digital Media », dans Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, [en ligne], New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, p. 289‑297, <https://doi.org/10.1145/3585088.3589370&gt; (consulté le 1 mai 2025).
  8. Centre canadien de protection de l’enfance (2021). Projet Arachnid : L’accessibilité des images d’abus pédosexuels sur internet, [en ligne], Centre canadien de protection de l’enfance, <https://content.c3p.ca/pdfs/C3P_ProjectArachnidReport_fr.pdf&gt; (consulté le 18 octobre 2024).
  9. Loi concernant la déclaration obligatoire de la pornographie juvénile sur Internet par les personnes qui fournissent des services Internet, (23 mars 2011). <https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/fra/lois/I-20.7/page-1.html&gt; (consulté le 25 avril 2025).
  10. Price, S., N. McKillop, J. Scanlan, S. Rayment-McHugh, L. Christensen et J. Prichard (2024). « A review of digital interventions as secondary prevention measures to combat online child sexual abuse perpetration », Journal of Child Sexual Abuse: Research, Treatment, & Program Innovations for Victims, Survivors, & Offenders, p. No Pagination Specified.
  11. Hillert, J., L. S. Haubrock, A. Dekker et P. Briken (2024). « Web-Based Initiatives to Prevent Sexual Offense Perpetration: A Systematic Review », Current Psychiatry Reports, vol. 26, n° 4, p. 121‑133

Author: Maude Lachapelle, Scientific Advisor, INSPQ
Contributor: Anne-Sophie Ponsot, Scientific Advisor, INSPQQ
External review: Larissa Ouedraogo, M.Sc., Planning, Programming and Research Agent, Regional Public Health Department, CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
Geneviève Paquette, Ph. D., Full Professor, Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke
Jacinthe Dion, Ph. D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

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