Along with gaming platforms, sadistic online exploitation offenders may target vulnerable young people who are engaging in digital spaces with questions about their mental health, sexual identity and other topics. Illustration: Avinash Weerasekera/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Along with gaming platforms, sadistic online exploitation offenders may target vulnerable young people who are engaging in digital spaces with questions about their mental health, sexual identity and other topics. Illustration: Avinash Weerasekera/The Guardian Internet safety Explainer Sadistic online exploitation: five warning signs for parents – and how to keep young people safe Offenders use threats and manipulation to coerce victims to produce imagery or livestream sexually explicit acts, self-harm or animal cruelty. How can you protect your child?
The sadistic online groomers targeting victims around the world – and a mother’s struggle to keep her daughter safe
Inside the horrifying online network where children coerce others to commit violence and self-harm
Prefer the Guardian on Google Authorities globally have warned about a sharp increase in the “sadistic online exploitation” of young people. Amid a wave of arrests, there are growing questions about how parents can identify whether their children are the victims of such crimes and how best to support families affected by them.
Offenders in this ecosystem often use threats and manipulation, court records show , coercing victims into producing imagery or livestreaming sexually explicit acts, self-harm or animal cruelty. In some cases, they have “swatted” family homes – calling in a fake threat to provoke an armed police response – as part of the pressure campaign.
Along with gaming platforms, these offenders may also target vulnerable young people who are engaging in digital spaces with questions about their mental health, sexual identity and other topics.
Jessica Pratley, a forensic and clinical psychologist with experience treating children and families affected by sexual offending, says parents and caregivers should watch for changes in their child’s functioning and wellbeing.
That could include emotional outbursts outside the norm, low mood and changes to eating and sleeping habits. For adolescents, this can include self-harming or risky behaviours. Other factors could be social changes, where children are particularly secretive about new friends including online, or increased isolation. “Parents know their kids best,” she says.
Read more The Australian federal police has detailed some potential warning signs that a young person may be a victim of sadistic online exploitation (SOE), including:
Signs of self-harm including carvings of symbols on their skin, bite marks and burns.
Sudden withdrawal from family, friends and/or usual activities.
Secretive online behaviour, or extended periods of use with online devices.
Use of extreme language, symbols and rejection of previously held morals.
The eSafety commissioner also provides advice about how to recognise signs of sexual extortion and online child sexual abuse .
“One of the things that we often say in this space is that disclosures occur in the context of relationships,” Pratley says. She suggests parents try to have conversations with their children from an early age about their friendships, what’s happening at school and their interests.
This is echoed by Miranda Bain, director of therapy and specialist services at Act for Kids.…