What does online grooming look like?

What’s on offer?

The number of children and young people who are experiencing exploitation and abuse online is ever-increasing. Figures have continued to rise over the last 10 years. Despite this, research examining inappropriate interactions online is sparse. Our exhibition, which is a collaboration between an artist and a researcher, raises awareness of the nature of some of the interactions, and the significant psychological impact this may have on children and young people. We hope that this learning will contribute to more compassionate and empathic attitudes towards, and responses to, victims of sexual violence, especially when they make the brave decision to come forward and seek help from others.

What’s it about?

By definition, ‘grooming’ is the process of manipulation through which an offender prepares a child for sexual abuse. In the literature, this is often presented to be a lengthy process that can take months, if not years, as part of which a relationship is developed. Research undertaken by the event organiser between 2011-2015 at the University of Birmingham (Kloess, 2015) was the first piece of work to analyse chat logs from interactions between convicted offenders and victims (i.e. real-world data) to examine the process of grooming in more detail, and the ways in which offenders engage their victims via internet technologies. One of the key findings from this research was that these interactions were of a highly direct and escalating nature. Contrary to general perception, offenders were found to ‘skip’ the preparatory process of grooming, and adopted more of a ‘foot in the door’ approach.

Who’s leading the event?

Dr Juliane Kloess, Lecturer in Forensic Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh

Open to

Anyone aged 16 years or over, but in particular young people and professionals working with young people.

Of particular interest to

Any professional group working to support children and young people who have experienced child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Scheduling information

Friday 1st November, 12:00-18:00

Saturday 2nd November, 10:00-18:00

drop-in, no need to register in advance