Prevalence and Risk Factors of Cyber Grooming Victimization: Results of a German School Survey

• In Event: Victimization of Youth

Abstract

Cyber grooming is defined as “the process by which a person befriends a young person online to facilitate online sexual contact and/or a physical meeting with them, with the goal of committing sexual abuse“ (Webster et al., 2012, S.5). On the basis of a survey of 1.729 ninth grade students, conducted in 2014 in a large city in Germany, this paper analyses how often the respondents experienced cyber grooming, and which factors influence the risk of becoming a victim of cyber grooming. 40.5 percent of the respondents reported that they had been asked by strangers online to provide personal information at least once in the last twelve month. 12.5 percent indicated that they experienced online sexual solicitation, 14.0 percent reported that a stranger pretended to be in love with the respondent on the internet. 2.2 percent were blackmailed. Multilevel logistic regression analyses show that all four facets of cyber grooming are related to gender, the platform on which the chatting took place, being bullied at school, as well as a high approval of risk seeking. Implications for prevention will be discussed.

Authors

• Marie Christine Bergmann, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony, Germany

• Sören Kliem, Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony, Germany

• Dirk Baier, ZHAW School of Social Work