Prevention

Children and adolescents, parents and caregivers, school-based professionals, youth sports coaches, religious leaders, leaders in youth serving organizations, and others can help children stay safe and avoid becoming victims.  Among the steps that can help keep children safe include the following:

• Discuss internet safety and develop an online safety plan with children before they engage in online activity. Establish clear guidelines, teach children to spot red flags, and encourage children to have open communication with parents and other trusted adults.
• Review games, apps, and social media sites before they are downloaded or used by children. Pay particular attention to apps and sites that feature end-to-end encryption, direct messaging, video chats, file uploads, and user anonymity, which are frequently used in cases of child exploitation.
• Supervise children’s use of the internet, including periodically checking their profiles and posts. Keep electronic devices in open, common areas of the home and consider setting time limits for their use.
• Adjust privacy settings and use parental controls for online games, apps, social media sites, and electronic devices. Research providers’ child and teen safety features to understand what children will and will not have access to.
• Instruct children to avoid sharing personal information, photos, and videos online in public forums or with people they do not know in real life.
• Teach children about body safety and boundaries, including the importance of saying ‘no’ to inappropriate requests both in the physical world and the virtual world.
• Encourage children to tell a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult if anyone asks them to engage in sexual activity or other inappropriate behavior.

Children who have been victims of sexual exploitation and abuse often experience a range of intense and adverse emotions, including depression, anxiety, fear, and shame. Indeed, to date more than 40 teenagers in the United States have died by suicide as a direct result of having been victims of financially motivated sextortion. Parents and caregivers, school-based professionals, youth sports coaches, religious leaders, leaders in youth serving organizations, and others in positions of trust and responsibility have a critical role to play in helping ensure that child victims receive the support and care that they need and deserve.

It is critical that adults provide a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to engaging with child victims. To do so, adults should be mindful of the following:

• Child victims are victims, not wrongdoers. They should not be blamed, shamed, or ridiculed. Online environments are difficult to navigate, and offenders are skilled in hiding their identities and in carrying out their crimes.
• Be empathetic and non-judgmental. Child victims may be enduring intense feelings of shame, embarrassment, and fear, among other things. They need and deserve a compassionate, thoughtful response that honors all of that.
• Have local and national resources—including local law enforcement and local mental health providers—at the ready.
• As appropriate, promise, and deliver, ongoing support to the child victim.
• Be aware, when talking to groups of children or families, that some in the audience may have experienced such victimization. Ensure that presentations and outreach are delivered in ways that anticipate as much and do not inadvertently add to the child’s suffering.
• Encourage children to tell a trusted adult if they have been victimized and convey to children that help is available. There are resources to help get images removed from online platforms, help children get connected with proper counseling, and otherwise provide support for child victims.

Adults should also be aware of, and on the lookout for, signs that a child may have been victimized, including:

• Unusual requests for money or online gift cards, or engaging in unusual financial transactions, especially through online payment providers
• Sudden mood or behavior changes
• Becoming unusually or intensely upset when they cannot get online
• Deep secrecy with respect to online activities
• Signs of self-harm