Online grooming
Groomers can use social media sites, instant messaging apps including teen dating apps, or online gaming platforms to connect with a young person or child.
They can spend time learning about a young person’s interests from their online profiles and then use this knowledge to help them build up a relationship.
It’s easy for groomers to hide their identity online - they may pretend to be a child and then chat and become ‘friends’ with children they are targeting.
Groomers may look for:
- usernames or comments that are flirtatious or have a sexual meaning
- public comments that suggest a child has low self-esteem or is vulnerable.
Groomers don’t always target a particular child. Sometimes they will send messages to hundreds of young people and wait to see who responds.
Groomers no longer need to meet children in real life to abuse them. Increasingly, groomers are sexually exploiting their victims by persuading them to take part in online sexual activity.
There were 7,296 counselling sessions with young people who talked to ChildLine about online bullying and safety last year
Almost 1 in 4 young people have come across racist or hate messages online.
CEOP estimates that there were around50,000 individuals in the UK involved in downloading and sharing indecent images of children during 2012.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show police recorded a total of 372 incidents of grooming in England and Wales last year.
That was up 20 per cent on the 309 incidents recorded in 2010/11.
What Do Predators Do?
Predators who take part in child grooming often use the same tactics to reach their victims. Some of the common behaviors of the predator can include:
- Manipulating the child’s thinking by becoming someone they think they can trust
- Exploiting natural sexual curiosity
- Driving a wedge between the victim and their family and friends
- Complimenting the child often
- Making promises of a better life
- Asserting control over the child
- Affirming their feelings and lending a sympathetic ear
- Reassuring against insecurities
These behaviors are designed to build that level of trust required to allow for sexual assaults to happen. However, these predators won’t hesitate to revert to threatening behavior if they feel the child won’t comply or is second guessing the relationship.
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