97 per cent increase in people calling child sexual abuse prevention helpline
There has been a 97 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of people calling to seek help to stop viewing indecent images of children online in the last year.
The national helpline and self-help charity, The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, reported almost 3,000 calls in the last year. This number has almost doubled, with 1,421 people calling the year before.
The helpline, Stop It Now!, is the UK’s first confidential helpline that supports people stop viewing sexual images of under 18s. They also support family members and friends of those offending online or offline.
The charity hopes to help people understand what causes their illegal behaviour and to give them support to stop for good. They offer advice to anyone worried about the sexual behaviour and discuss what action the callers can take to manage their short- and long-term online activity.
All calls remain confidential and anonymous, unless identifying details are known and a child is deemed to be at risk of harm.
The director of the Stop It Now! helpline, Donald Findlater, said: “People need to know the facts: viewing sexual images of anyone under 18 is illegal and brings huge personal consequences, including possible arrest, imprisonment, being on the sex offenders register, and losing family and friends."
In 2018, the National Crime Agency estimated that 80,000 people in the UK pose a sexual threat to children online.
Police forces around the UK are making around 450 arrests each month to such behaviour.
The Stop It Now! helpline is 0808 1000 900 and for any advice or support visit the website : https://get-help.stopitnow.org.uk/