German police announced, on Monday, that the publication of pornographic images of children or adolescents more than doubled in Germany last year, noting that European information servers have become a “hub” in this area.
The Institute for Criminal Statistics of the German police indicated that it monitored more than 39,000 cases in 2021 for the publication, possession or production of pornographic images of children and adolescents.
Sexual assaults against minors are also on the rise, with more than 15,500 cases recorded last year, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, the head of the German Judicial Police, Holger Munch, stressed that the increase in these numbers also confirms the progress made in “discovering the high proportion of unreported cases”.
The number of violations that the police are not aware of is still large, according to the authorities, who estimate that one or two students per class is the number of children who are victims of one form or another of sexual violence in Germany.
This phenomenon is not unique to Germany. In 2020, more than 65 million child pornographic images and videos were monitored worldwide, according to figures released by the European Commission in May.
More than 60% of child pornography images posted are hosted on European servers.
“Europe has become a hub for the dissemination of images of sexual violence,” German government official in charge of child sexual abuse issues, Christine Claus, told reporters on Monday.