Online child sexual exploitation and abuse is not a marginal problem in Central Europe; it is a common experience for young people growing up in the Visegrád Four. This is the central finding of new comparative research conducted by the Republikon Foundation, with funding from Safe Online, across Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
About the research
Between June and August 2025, the Republikon Foundation surveyed nearly 3,800 people aged 18–25 across the four countries: 1,000 respondents each in Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia, and 800 in Poland. Interviews were conducted face-to-face (CAPI) using random address sampling, with a margin of error of ±3.5% (±4% in Poland). The research followed a trauma-sensitive protocol, including specialist interviewer training, a helpline option for participants, and input from child, professional, and survivor advisory boards.
The study set out to answer four questions: how digitally well young people in the region are, how prevalent online abuse is, how young people feel about seeking help, and how these patterns differ across countries.
Key findings
Awareness outpaces understanding. Across the region, 90–94% of people recognize that children face growing risks online, but only 50–68% understand how common online sexual exploitation actually is a gap that leaves prevention efforts under-resourced and under-prioritized.
Roughly half of young people experienced online abuse growing up. The proportion who reported no exposure at all ranged from 53% in Czechia and 45% in Hungary down to just 18% in Poland and 10% in Slovakia. Milder forms, such as trolling, exclusion, and shaming, were most common, but around one in ten young people experienced frequent or severe abuse.
Adolescence is the highest-risk period. In every country studied, the 11–18 age range saw the sharpest rise in exposure to online abuse, with roughly three-quarters of Polish teenagers and four-fifths of Slovak teenagers affected.
Trust is concentrated and unevenly distributed. Friends, parents, and the police remain the most trusted sources of help across the region, while trust in the press, influencers, and schools is consistently low. Slovakia stands out as the most distrustful of institutional support, with young people there leaning more heavily on peer networks instead.
Nearly half of victims never asked for help. Between 38% and 48% of young people who experienced online abuse did not seek help at all, most commonly because they didn’t consider the situation serious enough or believed they could handle it alone. Fear and shame were also significant barriers, particularly in Poland and Slovakia.
Poland and Slovakia face compounding risks. Both countries show higher screen time, weaker social connectedness, lower life satisfaction, and greater exposure to online abuse than their Czech and Hungarian peers — a pattern that holds even though the two countries differ in family structure and social composition.
