Online Sexual Grooming of Children

Abstract

The internet has become a prevalent tool for offenders engaging in the sexual grooming of children, posing a serious threat to fundamental rights and unsettling societies. Challenges in defining online sexual grooming, variations in its prevalence, and evolving offender strategies necessitate a cohesive global legislative effort to combat child sexual abuse. This study employs a legal and psychological perspective, utilizing an integrative review methodology to comprehensively understand online sexual grooming. The objective is to formulate a holistic risk prevention and management framework. Examining risk and vulnerability identification mechanisms through empirical research, the study advocates for an integrated approach, encompassing psychosocial and preventive strategies to combat cybercrime. The proposed framework, comprising primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measures, aims to strengthen the global fight against the disturbing phenomenon of online sexual grooming and its detrimental impact on children, adolescents, and society as a whole.