Sexual exploitation and abuse of children on the Internet: A case study of social workers roles and interventions in England

Abstract

Responding to child sexual exploitation and abuse has grown more complex as perpetrators leverage digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, deepfakes, image-based abuse, grooming, coercion, and manipulation, to amplify harm. Although current literature examines the nature and impact of online harm, there is less empirical focus on the roles and interventions of social workers responding to online child sexual exploitation and abuse, also known as technology-assisted child sexual exploitation and abuse (TA-CSEA). This study used an adapted cyber-ecological systems model to explore social workers' roles and TA-CSEA interventions in England. The study adopted a qualitative exploratory case study design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight social workers selected through purposive and snowball sampling. In addition, document analysis of three anchor documents: the Children Act 1989, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 and the Online Safety Act 2023, was conducted to examine the relationship between policy and social work practice in responses to TA-CSEA. The data were coded and organised using MAXQDA and analysed through a hybrid deductiveinductive thematic approach. The findings show that social workers perceive technology-assisted child sexual exploitation and abuse as a complex, evolving, and often hidden harm that demands digitally adaptive and cyber-ecological child protection practice. Participants viewed children’s vulnerability as shaped by interactions across multiple contexts, including child-level factors, family and relational dynamics, school and community settings, social inequalities, and the digital environment. Social work responses in England are present but largely proceed through time bound and adapted traditional safeguarding pathways; however, these are constrained by a range of barriers, especially where digital harm is concealed and swiftly evolving. This study systematises social work roles and interventions in TA-CSEA, underscoring the urgent need for child protection strategies that are capable of addressing the digital and interconnected realities of children's lives.