Belgium’s Social Crisis: Sextortion, Burnout, Safety Fears
Belgium is confronting a convergence of social crises that underscore deepening mental health and safety challenges across the country. New data reveals a dramatic surge in sextortion targeting teenagers — with 9 out of 10 victims being boys — while nearly half of Belgians report feeling socially exhausted, and women increasingly speak out about harassment on public transport. Together, these trends paint a picture of a society grappling with the dark side of digital connectivity and social pressure.
Sextortion Crisis: Youth at Risk
Child Focus, the Belgian foundation for missing and sexually exploited children, assisted 433 young victims of sextortion in 2025 — a staggering 143% increase compared to the previous year, according to VRT NWS. Overall, the organization recorded 837 cases of online sexual exploitation in 2025, double the 401 cases recorded in 2023.
The most striking finding: 93% of sextortion victims are boys, with an average age of just 15. Niels Van Paemel, policy advisor at Child Focus, explained in an interview with HLN that criminals exploit specific vulnerabilities of teenage boys. “More than 9 out of 10 are boys. Criminals use chatbots that start conversations with thousands of young people at once,” Van Paemel said.
The method is chillingly systematic. Criminals use AI-powered chatbots to initiate contact on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and online games. Conversations are then moved to encrypted platforms like Telegram, where the actual extortion occurs. Deepfake technology makes fake profiles nearly indistinguishable from real ones.
“The threat that intimate images will be shared with the entire friend circle is the end of the world for a young person in full identity development,” Van Paemel warned. He emphasized that victims should never pay the criminals, as payment only leads to further demands.
Child Focus CEO Nel Broothaerts is calling for strict enforcement of the European Digital Services Act and a permanent Child Sexual Abuse regulation to force tech companies like Meta and Snapchat to take greater responsibility.
Social Burnout: 4 in 10 Belgians Affected
Alongside the online exploitation crisis, a quieter but equally pervasive epidemic is spreading: social burnout. According to clinical psychologist Yeter Yesilgöz, 4 out of 10 Belgians experience mental or physical exhaustion driven by the demands of work and social life, as reported by HLN.
“We often speak about burnout as if it’s only about work, but in practice, work, private life, and our social life all blur together,” Yesilgöz said. Social burnout occurs when obligations become so numerous and heavy that people cannot or dare not say ‘no.’
Warning signs include poor sleep, irritability, a desire to isolate oneself, and guilt when canceling social plans. Yesilgöz points to social media amplification, fear of missing out, and childhood conditioning as root causes. “For many people, it’s very difficult to say ‘no.’ On one hand, we don’t want to hurt anyone. On the other hand, there’s fear behind it — the fear that if you keep saying no, people will stop asking and you’ll be left alone.”
Her advice includes regular self-check-ins, learning to recognize one’s own boundaries, and creating genuine rest by turning off notifications.
Women’s Safety on Public Transport
The third crisis involves women’s safety in public spaces. According to the ‘Foto van Vlaanderen’ survey commissioned by VRT NWS, 4 out of 10 Flemish people sometimes feel unsafe, particularly on and around public transport. Women report being stared at or spoken to when they don’t want it — a form of harassment and unwanted attention that has become a daily reality for many.
A VRT NWS video report featuring Aurélie Boffe highlights the pervasive nature of these experiences. Researcher Floris Liekens of the VUB explains that women’s fear is often rooted in what criminologists call the “shadow of sexual assault” hypothesis — everyday conflicts with men are experienced as threatening because of the underlying possibility of sexual violence.
A Society at a Crossroads
While these three stories cover different topics, they share important underlying themes. Digital technology acts as a double-edged sword — it is central to both the sextortion crisis and the social burnout epidemic. All three point to a broader mental health challenge in Belgian society, from the psychological trauma of sextortion victims to the exhaustion of socially overextended adults to the anxiety women feel in public spaces.
Experts across all three areas are calling for systemic change: stricter regulation of tech companies, better mental health support, and improved public safety measures. As Nel Broothaerts of Child Focus put it: “It is not evident for children and young people to navigate a world where so much is possible, but where things are also so complex. Urgent work must be done to better protect our children online.”
The question now facing Belgian policymakers is whether these interconnected crises will be addressed with the urgency they demand — or whether they will continue to simmer beneath the surface of a society stretched to its limits.