Sexual Exploitation - Safety Tips

As well, research has found that most everyday online activities, such as posting on social networks, don’t place youth at risk of sexual exploitation: one researcher “reported that they knew of no case of a sex offender stalking and abducting a minor on the basis of information posted on [social networks].”[1]

It is, however, vital that we talk to kids about what to do if they experience any kind of sexual solicitation or exploitation online. One study found that a third of children who were victims did not tell anybody about what happened, and half of those said it was because they “didn’t know where to go or whom to tell.”[2]

• Help kids understand the idea of consent from an early age. For instance, you can ask them “Would you like to give your grandma a hug?” instead of telling them to do so.
• Ask young people if they know how to prevent people that they don’t know from contacting them in games, social networks and other online spaces, and how to limit who can see things they post online. If they don’t, suggest learning how, together.
• Talk to young people about healthy relationships and the importance of not pressuring people or feeling pressured into doing things they don’t want to do – such as taking explicit pictures of themselves.
• Tell kids to let you know if an adult who is in a position of trust or authority, such as a coach or a youth group worker, starts communicating with them privately online – even if it’s for practical or seemingly innocent reasons at first.[3] Online communication between youth and adults should happen in public, visible digital spaces.
• Don’t focus on the most extreme cases or news stories when talking to kids.[4]
• Provide kids with safe and reliable sources of information about healthy sexuality,[5] such as Sexandu or CBC’s
• Tell young people to talk to you if they are being pressured or sexually harassed by anyone. Ask them who they could turn to if they ever felt uncomfortable talking to you about something that happened.
• Warn young people that there are people online who target adolescents to engage in sexual conversations.[6] Make sure they understand that this is not limited to people they have met online: people they know offline may try to use digital platforms as a private space for grooming them.
• Talk to them about why adults having sex or forming romantic relationships with underage adolescents is wrong. Make sure they understand that online predators are often not “strangers,” but people they already know who will use digital tools to communicate privately with them.
• Help them recognize warning signs and grooming tactics, which include:
  • flattering them, especially about how they look
  • asking about times and places where they could meet or communicate online privately
  • asking for photos, especially ones that are revealing, show their face or focus on specific body parts
  • introducing sex or sexual topics or questions into the conversation
  • sharing or offering to share sexual images, either pornography or pictures of the sender
  • asking them not to tell their parents or friends about a conversation or about the relationship
• If kids are posting photos or videos online, or livestreaming, tell them to be alert to odd requests like “touch the ceiling,” “outfit check” or “there’s a spider on the wall.” These may be intended to get them show a certain body part or to start the grooming process.[7] If these occur often, have them set their accounts to friends-only and review their friend lists.
• Teach young people “exit strategies” that they can use to get out of online conversations that make them uncomfortable, such as:
  • telling the person that you have to leave, then quitting or logging off
  • telling the person that you are sharing or saving the conversation
  • blocking the person
• Make it clear to them that if they wish to meet a virtual friend in person, it must be in the presence of a trusted adult.
• Younger adolescents should share their instant messaging or social networking passwords with their parents. Parent should only access their accounts in the event of a problem.
• If kids do come to you for help, be careful not to blame them for what happened: “Being sure they would not face judgement and assuming that the trusted people would keep their confidence were vital influences on children’s decision-making.”[8]
  • In general, you shouldn’t take away access to a device or app, since that may make them less likely to come to you if something else happens. If you do, be clear why you are taking it away and the circumstances in which they will get access back.[9]
  • Listen carefully, take them seriously, praise them for coming to you and help them decide on next steps such as reporting what happened to police or another authority.[10]
• Talk to kids about whom they might turn to if they ever felt unable or uncomfortable coming to you. Make sure they’re aware of the trusted adults in their lives.
• Help young people who have been victims of online sexual exploitation get counselling about their experience. Boost Child and Youth Advocacy Centre’s Internet Child Exploitation Counselling Program provides funding and referrals for youth victims of online sexual exploitation.
• If a young person shared a sexual photo or video, consult the tip sheet Help! Someone Shared an Image of Me Without My Consent
• If a young person is a victim of sextortion, tell them not to send any money (and do not send any yourself). Make a record of any communications with the perpetrator and then block them from contacting the victim again. Then report it to the platform(s) where it happened and contact police.
  • The same is true if the image or video is a “deepfake.” While deepfakes of adults are currently not criminal in Canada, deepfakes of people under 18 in which they are naked or engaging in sexual activity are covered by the laws against creating and distributing child sexual abuse material.[11]

[1] Wurtele, S. K. (2017). Preventing cyber sexual solicitation of adolescents. Research and practices in child maltreatment prevention, 1, 363-393.

[2] ECPAT International & UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti (2022). Children’s Disclosures of Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Disrupting Harm Data Insight 2. Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.

[3] Zammit, J., et al. (2021). Child sexual abuse in contemporary institutional contexts: An analysis of Disclosure and Barring Service discretionary case files. Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse.

[4] FrameWorks UK. (2021) How to talk about child sexual abuse in the digital world. WeProtectGlobal Alliance.

[5] Wurtele, S. K., & Miller‐Perrin, C. (2017). What works to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and youth. The Wiley Handbook of What Works in Child Maltreatment: An Evidence‐Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Child Protection, 176-197.

[6] Wurtele, S. K. (2017). Preventing cyber sexual solicitation of adolescents. Research and practices in child maltreatment prevention, 1, 363-393.

[7] Levine, A. (2022) How TikTok Live Became A Strip Club Filled With 15 Year Olds. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2022/04/27/how-tiktok-live-became-a-strip-club-filled-with-15-year-olds/?sh=69d0886d62d7

[8] ECPAT International & UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti (2022). Children’s Disclosures of Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Disrupting Harm Data Insight 2. Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.

[9] Children’s Commissioner for England. (2021) The Things I Wish My Parents Had Known: Young People’s Advice on Talking to Your Child About Online Sexual Harassment, https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2021/12/cco_talking_to_your_child_about_online_sexual_harassment_a-guide_for_parents_dec_2021.pdf

[10] Commit to Kids. (2017) Training Handout. https://content.c3p.ca/pdfs/C2K_CSA_PreventionTraining_Handout_en.pdf

[11] Serebrin, J. (2023) Quebec man sentenced to prison for creating AI-generated synthetic child pornography. The Canadian Press.