Cyberdelinquency and cybervictimization among young people in Switzerland

The project “Cyberdelinquency and Cybervictimization Among Young People in Switzerland” addresses the urgent need for reliable data on criminal behaviours and victimisation in today’s digital environments. While online technologies have revolutionised communication, they have also created new forms of delinquency — from cyberbullying and identity theft to hacking and online fraud — yet young people in Switzerland remain an under-studied population in this regard.

To close this gap, a random sample of 30,000 people aged 16 to 24 from the Swiss population register will be contacted by mail and asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire. To achieve the desired net sample size of around 8,500 respondents, several reminders and a financial incentive to participate (shopping voucher) will be sent to one-third of the people contacted.

The survey will gather information on both offending and victimisation experiences, as well as psychological traits, demographic profiles, internet use patterns and offline delinquency. By collecting responses from thousands of young people across Switzerland, the study aims to provide the first robust picture of how often cyberdelinquency and cybervictimization occur among this age group. Beyond measuring how common these issues are, the project will examine the emotional and financial impacts for both victims and offenders, identify major risk factors linked to repeated victimisation and offending, and explore key theories that help explain these behaviours. The study will also analyse how often young people are both victims and offenders online.

Based on the results, this research aims to guide targeted prevention strategies and support the development of informed professional recommendations to help create safer digital environments for young people in Switzerland.