WHAT IS GROOMING?
Grooming is what experts call the intentional actions and behaviors of someone who tries to gain access to children they want to molest or sexually abuse.
People often think that predators are old dishevelled, dirty looking men. But the truth is, groomers can be anyone. They don’t often pick their child victims at random, and they’re often not “strangers” which is why we need stop focusing on “stranger danger.”
But most child sexual abusers know and have some sort of relationship with their victims. Predators often try to groom children, adults, and even whole communities so they can:
📣Gain access to children they abuse.
📣 Hide their actions.
📣Decrease the risk they will be found out and stopped.
PREDATORY CHILD GROOMING STRATEGIES
Predators groom children to gain their trust and create situations and opportunities to abuse them. While grooming takes many forms, predators often follow a five-step process to groom children for sexual abuse:
1. Identifying vulnerable children.
2. Engaging in peer-like involvement.
3. Desensitizing the child to touch.
4. Isolating the child emotionally and physically.
5. Making the child feel responsible for the abuse.
Though most predators start with the first step (identifying vulnerable children), it’s important to know that from there, many predators take two or more of the steps at a time, take them out of order, or skip some completely. Some predators do little or no grooming at all before starting to touch or abuse their child victims.
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