Robert Whitfield MD explains that online predators target men and teenage boys too, not just women and children. He describes tactics like sexual coercion, extortion with explicit images, and Romeo grooming where predators pose as romantic partners.
But you know, when you're talking about, it's not. It's not just for women or children, it's for men and young men as well. I have, like I said, a daughter that's 17, and I was just talking to her and some of her friends about it, that, hey, if you're ever in a situation, please let me know. And because we just heard of a young man, a young teenage, you know, committed suicide because he had been approached by people online. And what they do is they have them and male and female do things online with them and then they say, if you don't give us money, we're going to tell your parents, we're going to share this. So it really is a very serious issue. It does not know, you know, doesn't know geographic bounds or socioeconomic. It affects everyone. And I think one of the main things to know is that it doesn't just look one way. It's not always sometimes, but it's not always just you're taken and then trafficked. And that does happen. But it can also look like, you know, quote unquote, relationship. And that's hard for people to get their minds around. And that's what's called a Romeo, where they pose as their. Your boyfriend and then once you're attached to them, they end up trafficking you and it's hard to get out.
