The Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) has published harrowing accounts from children, including of sexual exploitation by parents, as it begins its annual Christmas appeal.
Last winter, between November 2024 and January 2025, it says more than 5,000 children and young people used its Childline service – a freephone number for children in distress.
These included 14 children a week calling about sexual abuse. More than 100 children a year have called about incest and 260 a year about violence at home, the charity said.
“Children contact Childline regularly about being forced to watch and make pornography,” it said.
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Among examples of accounts from children, given pseudonyms, is “Annie”, aged 11.
“She should be looking forward to a Christmas full of warmth and joy. Instead, she is living in a state of constant terror. Her mother, who is actively involved in prostitution, regularly forces her to have sex with multiple men.
“She gives Annie anti-anxiety medication and brings Annie to hotels where she is raped,” the charity said.
Another child, “Jenny”, told Childline her mother “struggles with substance use disorder” and “exploits her daughter to clear her constant debts. The teenager is forced into sexual acts with older men in return for drugs”.
A third girl, “Sophie”, was aged 13 “when she was sexually exploited and blackmailed by criminals she met online, who constantly knew her whereabouts and told her they would kill her parents if she did not do what they said.”
“This included coercing her into creating sexually explicit videos and images,” says the ISPCC.
A spokeswoman for the charity said: “In cases like this where a child or young person is at risk or in immediate danger, Childline will always ask the child or young person to provide us with identifying information so that we can act immediately and make contact with An Garda Síochána and Tusla”.
Caroline O’Sullivan, the charity’s director of services, said: “Our frontline team at ISPCC and our dedicated volunteers at Childline know we are in the midst of a crisis. We are hearing about it all the more regularly in the media too.
“Recently we learned of a case where the most heinous crimes were committed within a community and by a person in a position of trust. The bravery and courage of the children and young people who turn to Childline for support is insurmountable and it is imperative that we continue to always be there for them.”
Supporting the Christmas fundraising drive, actor Saoirse Ronan said: “For too many children and young people, Christmas doesn’t mean presents or a happy day full of warmth and safety. Instead, it means abuse, neglect and loneliness.
“It breaks my heart to know that it can be nothing but a living nightmare for many of our young people across this country.”
- Childline can be reached at freephone 1800 66 66 66
