Combat Online Grooming

Grooming for sexual abuse purposes is a hidden process in which an offender builds a child’s trust to enable sexual abuse or exploitation. Grooming and child disappearance form a continuum of risk: grooming can lead children to run away or be coerced into leaving home, while being missing increases their vulnerability to further exploitation.

This dynamic is escalating across Europe: in 2025, 92 grooming-related cases linked to missing children were flagged by 116 000 hotlines within Missing Children Europe’s network. Despite its prevalence, this link remains poorly recognised, limiting early detection and intervention.

Objectives

Strengthen knowledge and research on grooming and its link to missing children.
Equip professionals with better tools, training, and cooperation mechanisms to identify and support victims.
Raise awareness among children, families, and the wider public about grooming risks and available support.
Build partnerships with tech companies to improve prevention, reporting, and victim support online.
Promote stronger policies and public communication to ensure grooming is recognised and addressed as a form of child sexual abuse.

Activities under the programme

Research: studying the effects of grooming dynamics on vulnerable children, to influence evidence-based policy and implement effective responses
Advocacy: influencing policy discourse and decision making through the European Child Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group (ECLAG)
Capacity-building: delivering training to child protection specialists and law enforcement to ensure improved protection and responses
Awareness-raising: developing pan-European awareness campaigns for children and teens to empower children against online risks