• About this study
• Our study details
• Associated press
• Our findings

European Online Grooming Project

Sexual offenders' use of the internet

About this study

Our researchers are currently studying the different ways in which sexual offenders approach, communicate with and 'groom' young people online.

You can download a copy of the annual report here.

You can read initial findings from the study here.

You can download slides from our launch of the initial findings here.

The final report will publish in  December 2011.

Scale of the problem

A recent report from the Centre for Missing and Exploited Children underlines the scale of the problem, reporting 2,660 incidents of adults using the internet to befriend a child in order to entice them into meeting.

As more young people use the internet for social networking with friends, so the potential for contact with sexual offenders increases.

Funding of the project

The European Online Grooming Project is co-funded by the European Union, through the Safer Internet plus programme.

Timeline

Potential policy impact

Outputs from the European Online Grooming Project will be used to improve risk management strategies adopted by policy makers and law enforcement agencies across Europe. Findings from the research will be disseminated via a series of workshops to practitioners, teachers, parents and young people.

Methodology

Our research involves three phases:

• Phase 1 is a scoping study of convicted online groomers' case files, a pan European literature review and interviews with strategic stakeholders.
• Phase 2 consists of interviews with convicted online groomers in the UK, Italy, Belgium and Norway.
• Phase 3 includes workshops with policy makers, teachers, parents and young people to disseminate the findings and draw out risk and safety lessons.

Of interest: