Building societal resilience against child grooming: A design thinking approach to understanding the problem and priorities

Child grooming is a pervasive yet often hidden issue, with children frequently delaying disclosure until abuse or exploitation has occurred. This study presents the first empirical phase of GroSafe, a National Challenge Fund project led by TU Dublin in partnership with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) and funded by Research Ireland. Aligning with the Empathise and Define stages of Design Thinking, this concept phase aimed to understand the problem space and co-design a solution grounded in stakeholder needs. Stakeholder mapping was followed by qualitative interviews with 33 professionals across law enforcement, education, social services, and advocacy. The frontline professionals were engaged for their systemic perspectives and also as informed proxies for children’s lived experiences, given their daily safeguarding roles. Thematic analysis of interview data generated 15 structured needs statements, which were subsequently prioritised by 20 of the 33 participants through a structured ranking process. Stakeholder insights revealed six key barriers to early reporting of grooming: limited awareness among children and caregivers; fear and distrust of authorities; discomfort discussing personal experiences; shame and embarrassment; cultural stigma inhibiting open discussion; and inaccessible or unclear reporting pathways. These issues contribute to persistent underreporting, leading to data gaps and delayed intervention. This phase generated a set of stakeholder-informed design priorities and a conceptual framework to guide the future development of a technology-enabled intervention. The outcome is a flexible, stakeholder-informed structure to inform subsequent design decisions. Subsequent phases have engaged young people and carers in co-design activities, helping to ensure that future developments are grounded in their needs.