Children and young people who experience online grooming and technology-assisted child sexual abuse (TACSA) often carry a profound and invisible psychological burden long after the abuse ends.
A newly published peer-reviewed paper from Marie Collins Foundation (MCF) Head of Policy, Karen Garland, published in Frontiers in Psychology, explores the unique mental health impacts experienced by victims-survivors of TACSA and outlines the support approaches that can help recovery.
Drawing on MCF’s direct work with victims-survivors and families, alongside wider academic evidence, the paper highlights how victims-survivors frequently carry a complex “mental load” shaped by shame, guilt, silence, fear of blame and misplaced responsibility.
Online abuse is not “less serious”
This new research reinforces growing evidence that online child sexual abuse should not be viewed as less harmful simply because technology was involved.
Victims-survivors of TACSA can experience mental health impacts comparable to those harmed through offline child sexual abuse, while also facing additional harms linked to the existence and potential circulation of abuse imagery.
“Technology may be the medium through which abuse occurs, but it does not lessen the seriousness of harm. Too many children affected by TACSA carry shame, self-blame and silence long after the abuse ends. Recovery depends on skilful practitioner responses that understand these experiences unique to TACSA and place responsibility where it belongs - with the offender.” - Karen Garland, Head of Policy, Marie Collins Foundation
Four hidden burdens victims-survivors often carry
MCF’s direct practice experience identified four recurring psychological burdens experienced by victims-survivors of online grooming and TACSA:
1. Culpability, complicity and responsibility
Many victims-survivors described feeling they should somehow have stopped the abuse or “known better”, despite the reality of manipulation, coercion and grooming by offenders. Many internalised responsibility for abuse that was never their fault.
2. Guilt, shame and embarrassment
Young people frequently expressed distress linked to how their bodies responded during abuse, alongside fear about where abuse images may exist and who might see them. For some, this fear contributed to social withdrawal and ongoing anxiety.
3. Silence
Fear of blame, judgement or negative consequences often stops children and young people from speaking out or accessing support. In many cases, silence becomes a way of trying to avoid further harm.
4. Fear of blame
Victims-survivors often worry they will be judged for conversations, behaviours or images connected to the abuse — particularly where digital evidence exists. Many fear being viewed as complicit rather than harmed.
What recovery support needs to look like
The paper also identifies four key priorities for professionals supporting victims-survivors of TACSA:
Validation - helping victims-survivors feel heard, believed and understood.
Empowerment - restoring agency and helping children and young people regain a sense of control.
Apportionment of blame - placing responsibility solely where it belongs: with the offender.
Normalisation - helping victims understand that trauma responses, including physiological responses to abuse, are not signs of consent or complicity.
Why this matters
At MCF, we know from direct work that children and young people affected by online sexual abuse often encounter systems that are not fully equipped to understand the realities of TACSA.
This research reinforces the urgent need for trauma-aware, child-centred responses, with practitioners who understand the nuances of TACSA, from police, schools, social care, mental health professionals and online safety systems.
As technology evolves, our understanding of harm and recovery must evolve too.
Read the research here or download link provided below.