The prevalence of the digital predator

Not so long ago, parents could teach children smart practices about ignoring requests from strangers, or keep them safe by being physically present during their activities.

In the 21 st century context, however, this isn’t enough to combat the threat posed by digital abusers, who lurk online, often disguised as children themselves.

In a remote-first, post-COVID world, the addictive power of social media, lack of privacy protections and growing use of smart devices, today’s kids are growing up in a predator’s playground. One rife with opportunities to groom, manipulate and exploit them, no matter how privileged their background or outwardly ‘safe’ their environment.

Online exploitation of minors rising

The International Labour Organisation estimates one in four victims of modern slavery to be children, with online exploitation of minors a growing phenomenon. In 2019 alone, there were over 45 million sexual images of children online.

Online sexual abuse of children can negatively impact a child’s psychosocial well-being and development, putting them at increased risk of experiencing other types of violence and exploitation, including trafficking.

Schools: the front line of awareness and safety

But just because the dangers are hidden and insidious, doesn’t mean we are powerless to keep our children safe. The classroom can be an effective front-line to empower kids against those who would prey upon their innocence.

Empowerment of teachers and students

As part of a pioneering public-private initiative, Step Up Stop Slavery offers schools a ‘disruptive’ educational programme to combat trafficking and exploitation of minors.

This includes gender-sensitive, age-appropriate, trauma-informed live and asynchronous workshops, providing awareness, tools and frameworks to:

● Teachers, to develop their own resilience, learn to identify and protect at-risk children, and detect pupils being abused or vulnerable to exploitation

● Students, to empower and prevent them falling victim to traffickers and cybercriminals.The longer-term objective is for students to become conscious consumers, business

leaders and citizens, using their agency as adults to resist sex and labour trafficking.

● Step Up also provides schools with a compliance blueprint, to set up and implement efficient internal reporting protocols.

Workshops are facilitated by lawyer and compliance expert Katerina Stephanou and licensed counselling psychologist Xenia Papandreou. Read their full bios here.

Contact us:

To learn more about bringing our workshops to your school:

Email: info@stepupstopslavery.org

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