ISPCC 2023 Petition - Sign Now to Help Us Protect Children From The Ongoing & Growing Dangers of Online Grooming
Children are targeted by peers in school to ‘mind something’; they are targeted by strangers online to ‘send a nude’; they are targeted by criminal networks in their community to ‘make some easy cash’.
Because children don’t recognise what is happening to them, they often don’t reach out for support.
The ISPCC wants to change this. We want to see a society where children have the skills, knowledge and tools to identify this abusive behaviour and where they are empowered to reach out sooner.
But we can’t leave it all up to them.
The ISPCC along with academic partners are engaging in innovative research to bring about tangible solutions to address this problem.
Government has a key role in prioritising the protection of children from grooming behaviour.
Parents and caregivers need to be equipped with the confidence and language to have these tough conversations with their child.
AIM: Protect Children in Ireland from the ongoing and growing dangers of online grooming
GOAL: Ensure every child has the right to be protected from grooming and to feel safe.
DISCOVER: The scale of the problem the ISPCC is trying to address and why you need to sign this petition now:
Why the ISPCC are asking you to sign this petition?
Child grooming is a complex problem. And the ISPCC is determined to tackle it.
- 42% of young boys and 27% of girls have gamed with a stranger online.
- 26% of girls aged eight to 12 posted videos of themselves, rising to 50% of 12- to 16-year-old girls.
- More than one in four (26%) children had seen or experienced something online in the last year that “bothered” them, such as sexual or violent content.
- 93% of eight to 12-year-olds and close to 100% of 12- to 16-year-olds have access to some sort of smart device
- Only 52% of eight to 12-year-olds and 39% of 12 to 16-year-olds told a parent or trusted adult that they were being bullied
(Data from survey of more than 5,000 eight- to 16-year-olds in Ireland conducted between September 2022 and June 2023 courtesy of CyberSafeKids)
All children have the potential to be groomed, regardless of their socio-economic status or their cultural difference.
Child grooming can have a devastating and long-lasting impact on a child.
Child groomers have become more sophisticated in how they identify and target vulnerabilities in children.
Empowering children with knowledge, skills and tools lessens their vulnerability.
istening: Childline by ISPCC is always there to listen to children and to support them when they reach out to talk about these abusive behaviours.
Innovating: Childline by ISPCC is engaging in research to better understand children’s experiences of these abusive behaviours from their point of view (NLight Research Project).
Engaging: Developing new research to bring about real-world technological solutions to make society more resilient to child grooming (GroSafe).
Advocating: Calling for a National Strategy for Child Sexual Abuse, Child Sexual Exploitation and Online Risks to Child Safety
The ISPCC is proud to be a member of the GroSafe research team led by TU Dublin and funded under Science Foundation Ireland’s National Challenge Fund – OurTech. The aim of the GroSafe team is to develop a technology-enabled solution designed to build societal resilience against child grooming. Read more about this initiative here
Your support will help the ISPCC to find new and innovative ways to tackle child grooming, reduce the harm experienced by children and ultimately create a society that is more resilient to such abusive behaviours.
Please sign the below now. You can also share to help us spread the word. We appreciate any efforts you can make.