2024 - Abuse on the Internet - When adults approach children on the Internet

“Cybergrooming”: The term may not be familiar to everyone, but the problem has been known for a long time. Adults approach children and young people on the Internet in order to then sexually abuse them. In the case of Rebecca Lakomy, too, the perpetrator flattered her, gained her trust and lured her with money before he abused her.

It starts with attention and care

This is a typical approach to cybergrooming, explains Regula Schwager, psychotherapist and co-head of the “Castagna” victim advice center: “Children and young people are very approachable on people who give them attention and care, who are available for them day and night.» This is exactly what the perpetrators, so-called “groomers”, take advantage of. “Once this bond is established, the children really have no chance,” says Schwager.

An experience that Rebecca Lakomy has also had: “Virtually everything is still far away,” she says. “When he personally stood in front of me, I was already too far in.” Rebecca met with the perpetrator, believing he wanted professional photos taken of her. After she got into the car with him, he drove her to a remote place and abused her: “First he forced me to kiss, then he touched my vulva.”

When Lakomy then began to cry and her mother called her on her cell phone, the perpetrator let her go and drove her home. But the damage was done. To this day, Lakomy suffers from a dissociative disorder. This means that your body falls into a kind of fainting state when exposed to certain stimuli.

Cybergrooming is closely linked to another crime, child pornography. The perpetrators persuade children and young people to send them naked photos of themselves. Much of the sexually abusive material circulating on the internet is produced by children themselves and has its roots in such contacts.

Big increase in cases

Cybergrooming has increased significantly in recent years – also in Switzerland. A study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) found that in 2020 around 44 percent of young people had been sexually addressed online. In 2014 it was 19 percent.

Around 50 students were present in the “Club” program on the subject of child abuse online. Almost all of them stated that they had already been confronted with sexual intentions by strangers in chat forums.

In the run-up to the show, the students discussed the topic in class and watched, among other things, the Czech documentary “Caught in the Net”. In it, adult actresses pretend to be minors on social media and are contacted and sexually harassed by hundreds of men within a very short time.

Self-experiment with shocking result

An experience that 14-year-old Elisa also had. She was contacted online by a stranger: «He first signaled friendship, sent me hearts. But after just a few minutes he asked me if I had ever seen my brother’s privates or what color my underwear was».

Legend:

In the documentary “Caught in the Net”, three adult actresses pretend to be minors in chat forums. Three “children’s rooms” were set up in a studio and the conversations in the Internet forums were recorded.

ZVG

Elisa’s classmates experienced something similar. They started a self-experiment on the Internet with their class – and were surprised by the extent of the problem: “After just ten minutes, more than 100 men had written to us,” reports Leila. And Eleanor added: “They were very direct, asking: are you pointed? What do you wear? Send me pictures and where do you live?”.