Reporting

This advice gives information on how to report online sexual harassment. This may be something you or your child has seen online, or something targeted at your child.

Depending on the situation, you can make a report about online sexual harassment to different places/organisations.

You could report to:

• The app/service where the content is hosted
• A specialist reporting organisation
• Your child’s school
• The police

Most services have rules about what kind of content is allowed on the site. If something is harassment, pornographic or violent it breaks the rules. You can report this kind of content using the reporting tools on the site.

Find out how to make a report on different sites and services here.

You can also find out how to make a report and escalate any unresolved reports to the Report Harmful Content portal.

Worried about a nude image of your child that’s been shared online? Report it to Childline and get it removed from the internet.

Worried about images of child sexual abuse online? Report it to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). Unsure if it is criminal content? Visit the IWF website to find out what can be reported.

Worried about an adult making inappropriate contact with your child online? Report to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (CEOP), or the police.

Schools and colleges want to know about any experiences that negatively affect their pupils so they can effectively support them.

Schools and colleges should have safeguarding and child protection procedures in place to support and protect children either at risk of harm or experiencing harm. They can also raise concerns to relevant local authorities. For example, they should have existing procedures on when and how to pass on reports of illegal activity to the police.

Ask to speak to your child’s Head of Year, Pastoral Team or Designated Safeguarding Lead to discuss anything that has happened online that has worried or upset your child.

Let your child know you are doing this, find out if they are worried about anything and involve them in this process where appropriate.

Some incidents of online sexual harassment may break the law. Context is key in every situation.

If involved, the police should decide the response on a case by case basis.

Schools should have existing procedures on when and how to pass on reports of illegal behaviour or content to the police.

If you are unsure about whether to report something to the police, it may be helpful to know that schools are informed they should always refer incidents to the police where they:

• Involve coercion, blackmail or exploitation
• Are extreme or violent in their nature
• Involve a child or children under 13
• Involve a child at significant or immediate risk of harm
• Involve a child who is already recognised as vulnerable by children’s social care or the police
• Involve images or recording of a crime, e.g a recording of an assault
• Involve a high number of children

The children involved may not want to report the incident to the police. This may be for several reasons, including feeling scared, worried about getting in trouble, or being taken away from their home. Keep this in mind when you let your child know you are reporting something they’ve seen or experienced to the police. Give them time to ask questions, and try to give as much information as you can as to what might happen next.