Vigilante ‘paedophile hunters’ on the rise in Switzerland

Image taken from the recent SRF report about a vigilante group in Zurich. SRF

Vigilante groups who target suspected paedophiles are on the rise in Switzerland, luring men to meetings and assaulting them. Behind their actions lies a worrying mix of vigilante justice, fantasies of violence and far-right rhetoric.

“Every weekend we go hunting. It’s not deer or wolves we track, but human beings – suspected paedophiles,” says Yannick* who organises such activities. He poses online as a 14-year-old and chats to men. If they show interest, the contact usually leads to a meeting in a secluded spot outside the city.

>>Watch an excerpt from the Swiss public television, SRF, report (in German/French):

At the rendezvous, the man expecting to meet a child is confronted instead by a group of teenage boys – sometimes masked and armed. Exits are blocked, the suspect is overpowered and beaten for minutes. The youngsters film the attack and post edited clips online to demonstrate that the man “deserved” the violence. According to the “paedophile hunters”, their aim is to deter child sex predators.

“It’s a very old pattern,” explains Jérôme Endrass, an expert in extremism. “Every abuser is always looking for a justification for his acts of violence.” The subject of paedophilia lends itself particularly well to this.

Meeting ‘hunters’ in the forest

Anyone investigating this issue in Switzerland quickly encounters groups such as “PHCH”. A video on the social media platform X showing a brutal beating carries that group’s watermark. Contacting these networks is difficult, however: SRF reporters had several approaches rebuffed before a meeting was arranged.

Mistrust of the media was high, as was fear of the police. The group did not specify a meeting place, only a time. It was not until shortly before the rendezvous that they sent the coordinates: a barbecue site in the forest on the outskirts of Zurich. There the SRF team had to wait. There was no sign of the vigilante group. Only a few hikers looked on in surprise at the camera equipment that had been installed in the forest. Then a message. A few minutes later, two nervous and shy teenagers appeared.

Videos of beatings as deterrent

“We want to meet the paedophiles and beat them up. If the videos go viral, other paedophiles will be frightened,” Yannick told SRF.

However, research does not support that logic, says Endrass. “Deterrence is not enough. Someone who takes the step of committing a serious sexual offence against a child is unlikely to be stopped by viral videos. The fear of being arrested by police has a much stronger preventive effect – although even that is not always sufficient,” he says.

Yannick claims such actions take place across Switzerland and that around 100 people are involved nationwide – a figure that raises doubts. SRF infiltrated several Telegram chats linked to paedophile-hunting groups. One chat had more than 200 members but was inactive; another had barely a dozen. What was striking was the circulation of openly far-right messages and symbols in these groups.

Ideology behind the violence

The link between far-right ideology and so-called “paedophile hunters” is not coincidental, says Endrass.

“The argument of child protection has been used for centuries. Even in the Middle Ages, Jewish communities were falsely accused of killing Christian children. Today, extremist groups continue to use the ‘fight against paedophiles’ as a cover to spread hate and justify violence,” he says.

With such rhetoric, the “protector of children” becomes a moral shield for attacking ideological enemies.

Shortly after the forest meeting, Yannick left the chat. Minutes later, the group was deleted – almost certainly replaced by a new one to plan the next “hunt”.

*name withheld by SRF

A trend from the United States

Targeting suspected paedophiles is a recent phenomenon in Switzerland. In the United States, on the other hand, such forms of vigilante justice have been around for years. Hundreds of videos circulate online and even on TV in which men are confronted, humiliated or beaten on camera. It is generally not possible to check whether these recordings are authentic.

In Germany, the movement has gained strong support in recent years. There, YouTubers such as Nick Hein confront paedophiles in dramatically edited, staged formats that attract millions of clicks.

Online sexual harassment affects a third of teenagers

Around a third of teenagers have received unwanted sexual solicitations on the Internet in the past two years, according to a 2024 study. Many have been questioned about their bodies, approached with sexual intentions or asked to send erotic photos. Some have even been asked to act sexually in front of a webcam or blackmailed with intimate images.

Source : Etude James 2024External link

On this subject: One in five women and one in seven men worldwide are victims of sexual violence before the age of 18External link