The NSPCC is seeking evidence on children's experiences of violence and abuse as part of a major national survey.
The probe into child safety and victimisation is the follow-up to a study by the charity in 2000 on the prevalence of child abuse, which found that one-sixth of people had been sexually abused while under the age of 16.
Researchers will analyse the experiences of children, teenagers and young adults up to the age of 24 between March and November.
NSPCC head of research Lorraine Radford said the study would show the impact of changes in the child protection system, the rise of the internet and growing public awareness over the past ten years.
"The study's findings will give us a better understanding of how prevalent child abuse is now, and how that compares to a decade ago. We also hope it will help us gain an insight into young survivor's views on the most effective ways to support them."
The findings, including a study of trends in officially recorded child protection statistics, will be published next year.
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More information
NSPCC survey - full details
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