Online grooming

What you need to know

Online grooming describes a process where someone befriends a child online and builds up their trust with the intention of manipulating them, exploiting them or causing them harm. Groomers will often build an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust and offenders might look to exploit issues such as loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem, family or relationship difficulties or exploring sexuality.

The child could be groomed by someone they know or a complete stranger. Groomers use a range of tactics to gain power and control over their intended victim. These can include posing as a non-threatening friend, flirting, bribing with real or virtual gifts, compliments, blackmail and isolating the child from friends and family.

Teaching children from a young age what healthy and respectful relationships look like can help them understand who to trust online and empower them to avoid or safely deal with inappropriate contact.