Survey: Nearly 60% of Children and Adolescents in Taiwan Have Experienced Online Grooming

(Central News Agency, reporter Wu Xinyun, Taipei, 10th) A survey shows that nearly 60% of children and adolescents have experienced online grooming, with the proportion of males exceeding 20%, and 35% of all victims further experiencing sextortion. Civil groups indicate that groomers often exploit the desire for emotional belonging, packaging traps within daily interactions.

Online traps are层出不穷, and ECPAT Taiwan held a press conference today to release the 2025 latest online grooming analysis report, revealing the patterns of online grooming crimes.

Chen Yiling, Secretary-General of ECPAT Taiwan, stated at the press conference that according to the analysis report, among the 266 victims of sexual exploitation served by the association, as many as 154 had experienced online grooming, accounting for 58%. Although the majority of victims are still female, the proportion of male victims is also 21.4%, especially in sextortion crime scenarios involving "video chat nudity" and demands for "game points or money threats."

The data shows that 35% of all victims experienced further "sextortion," with "video chat nudity" being the most common trap. Further analyzing the crime patterns, Chen Yiling pointed out that groomers often exploit children and adolescents' desire for "emotional belonging" during puberty. The most common method is building companionship relationships (35%), where perpetrators often pretend to be peers of similar age or older siblings, lurking in gaming communities or interest groups. They then build trust through intensive companionship, listening to problems, giving small gifts or game points, and gradually steer the conversation toward private matters once the child has completely let down their guard.

Additionally, other crime patterns include exploiting job opportunities (25.6%), targeting children's desire to earn pocket money or living expenses, or their aspirations for certain industries (such as modeling), tricking them into taking and sending private photos, as well as using romantic relationships and video chat nudity for crimes.

Chen Yiling warned that the entry points for online grooming span social media, gaming platforms, communication apps, dating apps, anonymous chats, and video interactions. The interactive platforms that children use daily can all become entry points for perpetrators to contact, screen, and manipulate children.

Chen Yiling shared a common victim experience during the press conference. Initially, the victim wanted to simply share their life through online dating, but as they became familiar, the other party started talking about pornographic topics. Although the victim felt uneasy, they continued chatting because they trusted the person as a friend. Subsequently, the other party began to demand private photos, using emotional blackmail and other methods. When the victim was afraid of losing a friend and didn't know how to refuse, they eventually gave their photos to the other party, and the images were then spread online.

Chen Yiling stated that a teaching material for preventing online grooming, "Friendship Battle," has been developed, hoping to provide teachers with a useful teaching tool. Through situational games, it aims to train teachers to teach children to understand the true appearance and tactics of online grooming, identify danger signals, and build the courage to seek help and boundaries for self-protection. (Editor: Zhang Yajing) 1150610