Understanding and recognising possible grooming behaviours
Grooming behaviours include:
- gaining the child’s trust by making promises and giving gifts
- lavishing a child or young person with attention and praise so they enjoy spending time with the perpetrator
- engaging with the child in various forms of close physical contact so that they become comfortable with close physical contact e.g. by roughhousing, tickling, patting
- gaining the trust of the child’s carers/parents
- assisting and ingratiating themselves with the family and the child e.g. offering to babysit, financial assistance, tutoring.
- trying to isolate the child or young person from their parent/s or carer, creating a situation where the child or young person wants to spend time with the perpetrator
- spending time exclusively with the child
- providing cigarettes, drugs or alcohol to a child or young person
- making sexual comments or jokes
- using pornography to open sexual discussions with children and young people
Other manipulative behaviour that is often used in addition to grooming behaviour:
- using their role, position of authority or uniform to encourage or force the child to comply with the adult’s wishes
- using threats and fear to force the child to comply
- using guilt and shame tactics to stop the child from telling
- using physical force to overpower the child.