Victims’ Voices: The Impact of Online Grooming and Sexual Abuse
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This paper reports one of the first studies to identify the impact on the victim of online grooming leading to online and/or offline sexual abuse. Eight young people (six females and two males) who had been victimised through online grooming and subsequently experienced sexual abuse online and/or offline were interviewed. Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. The impact of sexual abuse on the young person appears to be correlated with their level of vulnerability prior to the onset of grooming and also their experience with professionals following abuse. Most notably, those experiencing multiple long-term risk factors suffered greater negative impact after the grooming and abuse on an individual level (e.g., self-harm, depression), compared to those who had more protection. However, these individuals were also more likely to experience unsupportive and negative responses from their families. Therefore future research is required to further investigate this relationship. There is no evidence in this study to suggest that young people who are abused via the Internet suffer less harm than those who are abused offline. Based on the victim’s direct experience of the services, recommendations are given for police, ABE (Achieving Best Evidence) interviewers, educationalists, and parents and carers.
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No included study examined self-harm or problems with friends as potential outcomes.
“For example, no included study examined loneliness or family difficulties as potential risk factors (Webster et al., 2012; Whittle et al., 2014), self-harm or problems with friends as potential outcomes (Whittle et al., 2013b).”
From Cybergrooming Victimization Among Young People: A Systematic Review of Prevalence Rates, Risk Factors, and Outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as Whittle et al., 2013b
Section 3.1 reports self-harm after the abuse in two cases. Section 3.3 examines consequences for friendships, including difficulty with friends and peer bullying. The cited study therefore addresses both outcomes the claim says no included study examined. (LLM, conf=0.92)
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWhittle et al. [12] studied the impact of online grooming on victims by interviewing eight young victims who were abused through online grooming.
“Whittle et al. [12] studied the impact of online grooming on victims by interviewing eight young victims who were abused through online grooming.”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [12]
As the child's level of vulnerability increases, online grooming affects the victim more adversely.
“It was shown that as the child's level of vulnerability increases, online grooming would affect the victim more adversely.”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [12]
Interviews with victims of cybergrooming that has led to sexual abuse demonstrated that distal outcomes are conceivable in terms of mental health, physical health, social functioning, and behavioral problems.
“Interviews with victims of cybergrooming that has led to sexual abuse demonstrated that distal outcomes are conceivable in terms of mental health (e.g., inability to forget the abuse), physical health (e.g., self-harm), social functioning (e.g., difficulties in relationships), and behavioral problems (e.g., aggression) (Whittle et al., 2013b).”
From Cybergrooming Victimization Among Young People: A Systematic Review of Prevalence Rates, Risk Factors, and Outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as Whittle et al., 2013b
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Graham, S., Murphy, A. D., & Widanaralalage, B. K. (2026) · Psychology Crime and Law · doi:10.1080/1068316x.2026.2701475 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Child Sex Tourism Recruitment Techniques
Bah, Y. M., & Artaria, M. D. (2020) · Journal of Educational Health and Community Psychology · doi:10.12928/jehcp.v9i4.17802 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Bah, Y. M., Artaria, M. D., & Suen, M. (2021) · International Journal of Research in Counseling and Education · doi:10.24036/00406za0002 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
GROOMING OFFENCES AGAINST CHILDREN IN INDONESIA
Hardiyanti, D. T., Harefa, B., Bakhtiar, H. S., & Supardi, S. (2023) · UUM Journal of Legal Studies · doi:10.32890/uumjls2023.14.2.6 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Pro‐anorexia coaches prey on individuals with eating disorders
Simons, E. I., Noteboom, F., & van Furth, E. F. (2023) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.24074 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.003 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
An exploration of young people’s vulnerabilities to online grooming and sexual abuse
Whittle, H. C. (2014) · University of Birmingham Institutional Research Archive (University of Birmingham)
Schade in de virtuele wereld: de casus virtuele grooming
ten Voorde, J. M. (2017) · Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy · doi:10.5553/njlp/221307132017046002005
Contexts for Linguistic Investigative Advice
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.009
Resources and Constraints in Abuse Identity Performance
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.008
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.002
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.005
Implications and Future Directions
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.010
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.004
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.001
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.007
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.011
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.006
Grant, T., & MacLeod, N. J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108766425.012
Consequences of Sexual Grooming
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‘Catfishes: How do they reel us in?’ Exploring adolescent vulnerabilities to online grooming
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Prevention of online sexual abuse: What do Chilean adolescents propose?
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Sexual Offenses, Adult: Psychological Sequelae of Rape and Other Forms of Sexual Assault
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Folgen des sexuellen Groomings
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- Authors
- C. Whittle, H., Hamilton-Giachritsis, C., & R. Beech, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- Venue
- Universal Journal of Psychology
- Published
- 2013-08
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 59-71
- ISSN
- 2332-3477 (ISSN-L)
- 2332-3485
- OpenAlex
- W2110387386
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 1.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Universal Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Birmingham
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
- Keywords
- online grooming, child sexual abuse, online sexual abuse, victim impact, youth, vulnerability, self-harm, depression, family support, police interviews, child protection
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