The Federal Abuse Commissioner, Kerstin Claus, has issued a stark warning about the unprecedented risks of sexual violence against children and adolescents in the digital realm, exacerbated by advancements in artificial intelligence.

The Federal Abuse Commissioner, Kerstin Claus, has highlighted the alarming increase in risks for children and adolescents to experience sexual violence, stating that the danger is higher than ever before. In her latest report, Claus emphasized that the rapid development of digital technologies has significantly contributed to this rise, with the internet becoming a central location for such crimes. She described the risks in the digital space as ‘exploding,’ pointing to the evolving methods of access for perpetrators.

According to the report, one in four young people aged 14 to 17 has already experienced ‘cybergrooming,’ a term referring to the deliberate online contact by adults with minors for sexual manipulation. Claus has called for changes to the legal framework to extend protections against such crimes to adolescents over the age of 14, in addition to children under 14. The report also warns of the dangers posed by artificial intelligence, such as the ability to transform innocent profile photos into explicit images, which can facilitate sexual extortion (‘sextorsion’).

The report further notes that the number of affected children and adolescents remains consistently high, with police statistics recording 17,126 cases of sexual abuse of minors in 2025—an increase of 1,600 cases compared to five years ago and 772 cases compared to the previous year. Claus has urged for broader implementation of protective measures, pointing out that only 11 of Germany’s 16 federal states have committed to school protection concepts. She also advocates for the introduction of a school subject focused on digital literacy and online safety, as well as proactive efforts to locate and remove abuse-related content from the internet. The report’s findings and recommendations will now be addressed by the German government and Bundestag, as mandated by the UBSKM law passed in the previous legislative period.