Andalucía accounts for 20% of Spain’s online sexual crimes against minors
A new report from Save the Children reveals a 13% spike in digital abuse cases, with adolescent girls targeted in more than 65% of reported incidents in the region
Sexual crimes against minors using digital devices are on the rise and Andalucía now accounts for 20 per cent of the police reports filed in this area nationwide, with a total of 230 registered during 2024 (latest available figures).
This is the focus of the latest Save the Children study entitled 'Behind the screen: sexual violence against children in the digital environment'. It warns of the increase in this type of crime against minors, with a more than 13 per cent increase in recent years.
Of the 230 cases of sexual crimes against minors that went to court in Andalucía, the majority involved girls and adolescents as victims, representing 65.2 per cent of the total. The study focused on analysing 23 sentences corresponding to 28 cases of online grooming that occurred between 2023 and 2024, all of which were prosecuted and resolved.
Across Spain, 1,078 reports of sexual offences were filed in 2024, with those registered in Andalucía accounting for 20 per cent of the total. This study began collecting data in 2022, with a total of 807 cases of such sexual offences reported.
Save the Children's regional director, Javier Cuenca, stated that "the very existence of these reports is a sign that the problem is beginning to be recognised and also confirms that sexual violence is a scourge that is spreading into different areas of the digital environment, which continues to be an unsafe space for children".
The study reveals that, nationally, the average victim age is 13 and girls still make up the majority, 60.7 per cent. Also that the perpetrator is predominantly a man with no prior criminal record. Regarding the relationship with the victim, 41.7 per cent of perpetrators are acquaintances, 33.3 per cent are strangers and 25 per cent are family members, a much higher percentage than the 3.3 per cent observed in the previous (2021-2022) analysis.
Save the Children has highlighted its concern about the length of legal proceedings in cases of online sexual violence against children and adolescents, as more than 60 per cent of cases last three years or longer and 14 per cent take over five years. Furthermore, the charity criticises the fact that 65 per cent of victims have to testify more than twice before the case even reaches trial, which increases the risk of re-victimisation.
According to this non-governmental organisation (NGO) that supports children's rights, children are starting to interact online at increasingly younger ages: almost 58 per cent use the internet regularly from the age of 11 and nearly one in three do so regularly before the age of ten.
Therefore, digital presence is now part of their daily lives, becoming a space for socialisation, leisure and learning, but also a risky environment when there adequate protection mechanisms are lacking, warns the NGO.
