Online Grooming & Going Missing: the Voices of European Survivors

This research paper explores the connection between tech-facilitated online grooming and episodes of children going missing. Online grooming is a manipulative process in which offenders build trust with children through digital platforms in order to sexually exploit them. Unlike offline grooming, it often unfolds in a non-linear way, with overlapping stages of manipulation that can accelerate abuse. Despite the growing prevalence of technology-enabled exploitation, limited research has examined its relationship with missing-child incidents. Developed under the EU-funded CESAGRAM Project, this study addresses this gap by amplifying survivors’ voices. Using qualitative methods, it reconstructs the experiences of 20 European young adults aged 18–24 who were groomed as minors and later went missing. By tracing trajectories from initial online contact to disappearance, the research identifies key risk factors associated with grooming and abduction, including trauma exposure and underlying victim vulnerabilities. Centred on survivor perspectives, the study challenges the culture of silence surrounding child sexual exploitation and abuse. It provides insights to inform prevention and support strategies and offers frontline professionals actionable knowledge to recognise warning signs, intervene earlier, and provide effective support to children before, during, and after disappearance.