Online Sexual Abuse - guidance and support for schools

Children of all ages, socio-economic backgrounds, genders and abilities can be sexually abused online, with a significant impact on their lives. As online abuse continues to escalate, schools play an integral role in ensuring children remain safe in their increasingly digital world. Read on for tips to support staff, empower parents and carers and safeguard pupils as part of your whole school approach.

What is online sexual abuse?

Online child sexual abuse involves enticing or forcing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities online, or using technology to facilitate sexual abuse offline. It has a lasting impact on the victim’s physical and emotional health and wellbeing, relationships and education. Alarmingly, there is an increasing trend of child-on-child abuse, instigated by other children and young people, not just by adults.

How prevalent is it?

The 2024 annual report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)  highlighted that ‘self-generated' child sexual abuse was significantly higher than content created when the abuser was physically present in the room. This was across all age groups, and for the first time, there were more 7-10-year-olds in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images than 11-13-year-olds, which had been the highest age group previously.  There has also been an exponential rise in "sextortion" scams, where a perpetrator coerces or tricks a young person into sharing nude or sexual imagery, then threatens to share the image with the victim’s family and friends, or on the open web, if money is not sent. And whilst boys still make up the majority of victims, there has been a 2,600% increase in reports involving girls, with victims getting younger. Often, these children are completely unaware they are being recorded and that the content is then shared.

How does it happen?

Technology can be used to generate and facilitate abuse through sharing or possessing sexual imagery of children. These may be searched for or shared through the open web, private messaging or even the dark web, and once available, can be in wide circulation and extremely difficult to eradicate. Furthermore, children are increasingly targeted through artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced grooming tactics, which now pose one of the biggest threats to online child safety, enabling criminals to generate and distribute sexually explicit content using a non-sexual image of a child.

We know that children and young people love livestreaming, sharing pictures and playing online games – it’s a lot of fun, providing opportunities for creativity and self-expression - but there are significant risks. Livestreaming platforms provide easy access for perpetrators to engage with children through their instant, direct connection of ‘viewers’ to ‘hosts’. Offenders often hide amongst viewers and start chatting with the child, and once contact is established, grooming and abuse can take place in a relatively short time. Gaming can also provide similar opportunities to offenders, who entice children to move onto private messaging apps away from group chats initially focused on the game. The young person is then tricked, coerced or manipulated into sexualized conversations and encouraged to take part in sexual activity or to send nude images or videos.

Once the abuse has taken place, some victims may not want to report it for fear of being judged or blamed or unsure about the consequences of coming forward. Often made to feel that it’s their fault, they are afraid to speak out about their experiences. Some may not even realise that they have been abused, or be unsure who to go to or how to report it.

What can schools do?

It’s essential for schools to create a positive culture of safeguarding by talking to children about online risks and raising awareness of the potential harms of sharing images and information online. All concerns must be taken seriously, and all staff must be confident and consistent in managing and responding to disclosures whilst avoiding victim blaming. Be aware that some pupils receiving online safety education may have already experienced sexual abuse.

Schools should aim to:

• Show empathy and understanding
• Explain what will happen next, and if information needs to be passed on
• Ensure that pupils have ongoing support
• Ensure staff are alert to changes in pupils’ emotions and behaviour – both verbal and non-verbal
• Encourage pupils to come forward by providing worry boxes, online reporting options and safe spaces
• Use opportunities in the curriculum in PSHE/RSHE to discuss abuse, healthy relationships and online safety
• Ensure trusted adults are explicit and emotionally available
• Ensure policies and safeguarding procedures are aligned and supportive
• Ensure pupils know there is a choice of adults and reporting services to turn to if something happens online, especially if it is outside school hours or during holidays. 

Free training and support for schools:

• Online Sexual Abuse and Harms training - suitable for safeguarding staff, senior leadership and online safety leads, this free training is designed to help schools develop best practice to support their whole school approach. The session provides insight, trends and guidance on nude image sharing, livestreaming and life online, as well as reporting and responding to concerns and addressing barriers to disclosure. Attendees will be equipped with resources and information so that back at school, they can:

  • hold an awareness-raising session for all staff
  • review and implement policies and procedures to educate and protect children
  • implement cross-curricular activities and lessons for pupils
  • promote parental engagement to empower parents and carers
  Sign up here

• Find additional resources, guidance and tips to support staff, parents and pupils at https://lgfl.net/safeguarding/types-of-harm/online-sexual-abuse 

Useful organisations to signpost include:

• Child Exploitation and Online Protection CEOP - young people can report concerns about child sexual abuse and exploitation to the National Crime Agency
• Childline Report Remove – children can use this free tool to report nude or sexual images and videos of themselves they think might have been shared online, or speak to a trained Childline counsellor online or on the phone.