Understanding the problem of online grooming and empowering young people to use the Internet safely.
Project scope
The European Online Grooming Project is a ground breaking study that looks at:
- the behaviour of offenders who groom young people
- the behaviour of young people online and their awareness of online risk
- the role of ICT in facilitating online grooming
Project impact
It's hoped that findings from the project will be used to:
- develop effective safety campaigns aimed at young people, parents and teachers
- help the IT industry develop ways to keep their customers safe online
- inform the risk assessment and treatment of offenders
- improve policy making and law enforcement
Find out more
A number of reports have been written, available below:
- Complete final report
- Executive summary of the final report
- Summary of initial findings
- Annual report
- Scoping report
- Literature review
You can also:
- view slides from the launch of the final report here
- view slides from the launch of the initial findings here
- listen to an MP3 audio recording of the initial findings here
Project funders
The project is co-funded under the European Commission Safer Internet plus programme, a multiannual Community Programme on promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies.
Methods
Phase 1: Literature review, review of police case files and interviews with key stakeholders. Phase 2: In-depth interviews with 33 male convicted offenders convicted in the UK, Belgium and Norway. Online groomers’ chat-logs were sourced from Italy. Phase 3: 12 focus groups with young people in the UK, Belgium and Italy. Seven dissemination events with teachers, parents and professionals in Belgium, Italy, Norway and the UK.