SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Physical, verbal, and sexual abuse that teenagers are suffering online has doubled over the past two years, a survey showed Tuesday.
The Ministry of Gender and Equality conducted a survey of 14,536 teenagers nationwide, 44.7 percent of whom said they had suffered from sexual harassment, attempts to engage in sexual intercourse, stalking, and other forms of sexual abuse on online platforms.
In a 2018 survey, 24.2 percent of those who fell victim to sexual abuse online were female. Last year, the proportion more than doubled to 58.4 percent. The share of young men who were sexually abused online also jumped from 8.3 percent to 19.8 percent.
Those who were exposed to verbal, physical violence and bullying picked school (45.9 percent) more than online platforms (26.7 percent) as the primary scene of the crime.
Experiencing violence on an online platform also doubled from 2018 (10.7 percent) to last year.
Image Credit: Yonhap / Korea Bizwire / photonews@koreabizwire.com