How to Help Stop Online Sex Abuse
How to Help Stop Online Predation
If you’re here, reading through SOSA’s resources, you probably care a great deal about stopping online predation and grooming. But it can be challenging to know exactly where to start addressing these issues, which are so nuanced and widespread. Here are a couple of suggestions for ways you can get involved in building an online world that’s a little safer for kids and teens.
Build Trust With Your Own Child
If you’re a parent or caregiver, of the best ways to fight predation is to start with educating your own child. Make sure your kid or teen knows they can come to you about anything they encounter online, and be clear that you will not be angry with them if someone harms them.
Hopefully, you will never need to support your kid through something this difficult, but laying the groundwork in advance will make the situation so much easier if your family does ever experience this situation.
Talk Regularly About Consent
Teaching your child about consent in age-appropriate ways can help them identify when someone is attempting to harm them — either online or in real life.
If you have a younger child, you might keep things a little less specific by explaining that only their caregivers and doctor can see their genitals or by practicing consent concepts in non-sexual scenarios.
If you have a tween or teen, you can probably be a bit more specific — walking through how to identify grooming, common tactics perpetrators use, and what to do if something ever happens.
Know What to Do If Something Happens
If your child or teen does experience online predation, you may feel heartbroken, angry, overwhelmed, or all of these at once. Knowing what to do next isn’t easy — especially when emotions run so high. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide for how to handle the situation to protect your child and help them receive justice.
How to Help SOSA
One powerful way you can fight online sex abuse and predation is by supporting the work SOSA does to address it. Thanks to our incredible community of supporters, we’re able to teach folks how to prevent and identify abuse, collaborate with law enforcement to apprehend perpetrators, and provide crucial support to survivors. Here are some great ways to get involved.
Contribute a Donation
SOSA’s monthly donors are one of our biggest resources. Their continued support gives us the security we need to do everything from advocate for systemic change to identify ACMs to directly support survivors.
For those who are unable to commit to monthly giving, we also have a one-time donation option or the ability to round up your credit card purchases.
P.S. Our monthly donors receive a monthly newsletter with tips, inside looks at what SOSA’s up to, and behind-the-scenes content from our work on Undercover Underage and other decoy sprints!
2. Ask Your employer if they offer donation matching
This is a great option because it allows your money to go twice as far. Many companies offer donation matching to their employees, which essentially means that they will contribute the same amount to an organization that you do. We currently get employee matches from Disney, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, and more, and they are so helpful in supporting our work.
3. Create a Facebook Fundraiser
Have a great group of Facebook friends who might be interested in supporting SOSA? You can create a fundraiser on the platform to handle the whole process. (P.S. Many folks create these fundraisers for their birthdays as a way to let their friends celebrate their special day and do some good.)
Here’s how to do it:
1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. Type “Fundraiser” into the search bar.
3. Click “Create fundraiser.”
4. Tap “Nonprofit.”
5. Type “SOSA” into the search bar.
6. Edit the details as you’d like!
4. Share SOSA’s work with Your community
Spreading awareness is a huge part of what SOSA does, and you can help us with that by sharing what we’re working on with your friends and family members. You can engage with our posts on social media, send our resources to parents and caregivers you know, and simply use good old word of mouth to help us protect more kids.
