‘We share this to call for action,’ say advocates as online violence targeting girls rises in Canada

A recent report by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) shows online violence targeting girls is on the rise in Canada.

Between June 2022 and December 2025, cybertip.ca and needhelpnow.ca — both operated by C3P— received 127 reports of extreme violence, with most reports coming in the past 12 months.

Of the 75 child victims, girls accounting for 84 per cent — with the youngest victim being an 11-year-old.

“What we are seeing is a trend in more extreme violence against young people,” said Lindsay Lobb, director of operations, C3P. “Particularly, what we are seeing is related to harm to young females, girls.”

“We don’t share this to create fear,” Lobb said. “We share this to call for action.”

A 2024 Winnipeg police service (WPS) data shows that women are overrepresented as victims of online sexual offences.

Lobb said many factors contribute to the increase of reported violence with intensifying radical rhetoric being one of the reasons.

“We are seeing the connection to the nihilistic offender groups and continued online misogyny against women and girls. I think we would be naïve to say that it’s not a contributing factor,” Lobb added.

Lobb said the reported cases show offenders use a variety of tactics including threats to distribute intimate images

“They are using aggressive coercive of tactics to convince young people through blackmail, through extortion, to do things like carve in their own skin, to self-mutilate or to self-harm,” Lobb explained.

Some of the reported cases also include coercions to commit violent action against others.

“What we are seeing is that there can be, in some extreme cases, sexual or physical violence perpetrated against other young people or against animals.”

Data shows that offenders favoured Discord as their communication platform with 80 reports related to extreme online sexual violence since 2022 citing it.

Lobb says there is a need for more regulations in Canada and internationally.

“We certainly are calling for the accountability of these tech companies to create spaces that are safer for children and to be accountable for the platforms and apps they create,” Lobb said.