Kildare Gardaí are set to participate in national "Say No” campaign to tackle online grooming
By Kim O'Leary
Kildare Gardaí are set to participate in a new nationwide campaign to tackle online grooming.
The European Union police agency Europol has launched a new campaign against online sexual coercion and extortion of children in support of which the Garda Síochána today launches a "Say No” campaign.
The "Say No” campaign is aimed primarily at children and young people who may be targeted online as victims of online coercion and extortion
The online coercion and extortion of children is a form of digital blackmail, sometimes referred to as ‘sextortion’, where sexual information or images are used to extort sexual
The centrepiece of the campaign is a 10-minute video, portraying two teenagers, a boy and girl, being exploited online either by a criminal organisation for money or by an individual online sexual offender seeking further sexual material. The video also includes advice as to how such crimes may be reported to An Garda Síochána.
The video and other helpful information may be found at https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/public-awareness-and-prevention-guides/online-sexual-coercion-and-extortion-crime.
The Online Child Exploitation Unit (OCEU) at the Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) has provided a list of preventative measures that young people living in Ireland can take to protect themselves online. This includes making the most of security settings proved on social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter which both have a report suspicious activity button, be aware that people may not be who they claim to be online, and to not share explicit or intimate images with anyone.
Those who believe that they may be a victim of online grooming should not share more images regardless of any threats, talk to a trusted adult, stop communicating with the person by blocking them, preserve evidence by not deleting conversations, and to report the matter to their local Garda station.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who heads Special Crime Operations (SCO), within the Garda Síochána said:
"The Garda Síochána is today launching a "Say No” campaign which represents its participation in a new campaign against online sexual coercion and extortion of children that is led by Europol.”
The “Say No”campaign aims to provide advice to those persons who are victims or who in the future may become victims of crimes of this nature.
Posting or uploading explicit images on social media, or passing such imagery to others online, is extremely dangerous and can have devastating and lifelong consequences for children and their families.
The issue of online grooming has been highlighted by a recent storyline featured in the popular soap Coronation Street, where teenager Bethany Platt (played by actress Lucy Fallon) is seduced and groomed online by character Nathan Curtis (Chris Harper). Image featured in TheSun.co.uk