Prevalence of viewing online child sexual abuse material among Australian adults

Abstract

Based on an online panel survey of 13,302 adults, this study examines the common demographic characteristics of those who have intentionally viewed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in the past year. Overall, 0.8 percent of those surveyed reported they had intentionally viewed CSAM in the past year. This is somewhat lower than previous estimates, which have ranged from 2.2 to 4.6 percent. Further analysis based on logistic regression and predicted probabilities identified four key demographic factors associated with CSAM consumption. Survey respondents who were aged 18–34 years (predicted probability of 1.2%), were living with disability (predicted probability of 1.5%) were currently serving or had previously served in the military (1.9%), or spoke a language other than English at home (predicted probability of 2.0%) were more likely than others to have intentionally viewed CSAM.