Online grooming statistics

This diagram shows where the grooming mostly happens. As you see most of the cases is happening in chat rooms or on an instant messenger. Both places where you can hide behind a profile picture, and a fake smile. 23% of these happens in other places, which could be some kind of game.

This diagram shows how many percent of the youth doing these things when they are using the internet. And the more dangerous thing they do, the more likely are they to get groomed, or atleast tried to be. The half of all the kids consulted are posting personal information on the internet, and 45% are interacting with people they dont know. However you cannot blame anyone for interacting with strangers on the internet, than is more or less the point with alot of sites. You get to discuss different topics with a stranger etc. 35% are accepting people they do not know to their friend list. This might be a bigger problem. This allows the groomer to see pictures of you, and get to see all of your personal information. 26% are sending their information to strangers, which indeed is a problem. You should never send your personal information to strangers.

How do we prevent online grooming?

There is alot of ideas how to prevent online grooming, depending on the person you ask. Most people agree on that the parents have to make sure, that they know what their kid is doing online. The parents have to talk to the kids about online grooming, and make sure that the kid is aware of the fact, that there is person out in the world, that only want to abuse small children. Some people mean that the parents have to block severeal webpages or even stalk your kid, to be sure that this is not happening. However in the dream secenario your kid will understand the danger, and come to you if he/she experiences online grooming, or atleast someone who is trying to do it.

Grooming - easier online?

Online grooming happens on the internet, it is a term used to describe the course of events which happens online, where the adult tries to get and maintain a relationship to a minor. Doing this online is probably a lot easier, because the kid cannot see the adult, and it is easier to hide from your parents. After the relationship is built up, the kids might meet several times with the adult in real life, and get a closer relation to each other. However in most cases the abuse takes place the first time they meet.

How often does Online grooming happen?

Online grooming is a thing that happens frequently, perhaps frequentlier than we think. A lot of these cases never reach the surface, becuase of the kids fear of telling their parents. The kids realize after the abuse, that they had a factor in this themselves, and probably thinks that the parents will never forgive them for doing it. They may never rebuilt their trust to their parents again. Therefor most of the childs will never tell anyone about the abuse they have experienced. It is ofcourse also important to remember, that online grooming does not always end in a real life rape or abuse of the child. The grooming might just stay online, and the kids are perhaps recieving sexual content from a adult, and sees it. Another thing could be them webcaming with eachother. That it stays on the internet, is probably better than it reaches a real life level, but on the internet the kids do have more choices, and if the kids agree on above-mentioned things, they do have some kind of responsibility.

To sum up: The kids might not tell their parents, which we think happens in a lot of the cases. A lot of the cases is ofcoruse being revealed because of distinct marks on the child, a result of a brutal abuse.

Who are the victims?

The victim of online grooming could be anyone. The most receptive though, are lonely people who needs someone to talk to and who will understand them. Also vulnerable people with low self-esteem who searches for someone to acknowledge and accept them. The fact that people don't know how to protect themselves and their privacy on the internet, certainly doesn't help either. The online groomers take advantage of their ignorance and  naivety and manipulates them to believe they are trustworthy and caring friends.

Here is an example:

11 year old Nikolai had online contact with a 28 year old man through a longer period. The man was so understanding and caring, and always supportive when Nikolai felt alone and friend-less in school. At one point where Nikolai was really sad, the man asked for his phone number so he could call and comfort him. He called him and for a long time they had daily contact via text messages and phone calls. Nikolai kept his acquaintance to the 28 year old secret to his parents, as he feared their reaction. After several months of daily contact, the man suggests them to meet and have an ice cream together. When Nikolai arrives to the place where they were supposed to meet, he gets brutally raped.

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What is online grooming?

Online grooming is when adults try to get in touch with kids online, with intention of sexual abuse. The adults intentionally try to build some kind of confidentiality between the adult and the kid. The reason of the adults doing this, is to sometime meet the kid in real life, and do whatever with them that they want.

The technic of online grooming, is first of all to find a potential victim. After the groomer has found a potential victim, he builds up the confidents between him and the child. In the groomingprocess the adult tests the relationship between them. He makes sexual references, and see how the child reacts. However in most cases the kid has become so close to the groomer, that the person concerned does not realize the danger. When the meeting is being arranged, the groomer makes sure that the kid is envolved in the planning of the meeting. This makes the kid feel that he/she has a joint responsibility together with the groomer. This makes the following court process difficult, because the kid had a "choice" whether he/she wanted to meet the groomer.