Understanding the grooming behaviours of child sexual abusers can lead to strategies for better detection and prevention a new report has found.
The report was released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and authored by Griffith University’s Patrick O’Leary, Head of the School of Human Services and Social Work, with Royal Commission staff Emma Koh and Andrew Dare.
“Grooming behaviour is not well understood in the community, given persistent stereotypes about child sexual abuse and perpetrators,’’ Professor O’Leary said.
Professor Patrick O’Leary
“Misconceptions include most of the perpetrators being strangers to the victim, the child as a ‘willing’ actor in the abuse, or that most grooming occurs online.
“There may also be a perception that children are safe in institutions and that perpetrators can be easily identified.”
He said the research found parents may have also been groomed and that grooming techniques were sometimes difficult to identify and distinguish from normal caregiving behaviours.
The
Skip to content
News and other stories about real people, places, and events in Mount Gravatt and nearby suburbs.