More than 2,000 contact Stop It Now! helpline in Merseyside

Stop It Now! is the UK’s first confidential helpline that supports people worried about their own sexual thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards children.

New data revealed that last year 2,276 people from Merseyside contacted the Stop It Now! helpline and self-help website to address.

This represents a 109 per cent increase from 2018, which saw 1,089 make contact with the charity.

Through the Stop It Now! confidential helpline and website people can understand what triggers their illegal behaviour and get support to stop for good.

Run by an experienced team of trained advisors, callers to the helpline agree actions they will take to stop their illegal online behaviour in both the short and long term.

Helpline advisors also explore with callers – both those offending and their adult family members – the possibility of any direct risks to children, including in the caller’s own family, to ensure these children are protected.

Calls are confidential and anonymous, unless identifying details are given and a child is at risk of harm or a crime has been committed.

The surge in people contacting the Stop It Now! helpline follows the charity’s campaigning efforts, including with police forces across the North West in 2018.

The campaign aims to tackle online viewing of sexual images of under 18s by highlighting the consequences, including loss of job and family life, being imprisoned and registered as a sex offender, while pointing to help for people to change their illegal behaviour.

Building on their efforts, the charity is promoting two new online films based on the concept of ‘The Fear’ to raise awareness of the issue of online offending, and encourage people who view sexual abuse images of under 18s online, or are at risk of doing so, to seek help.

Based on insights shared by people who have previously offended, both films play upon the building anxiety and fear of being exposed as a viewer of sexual images of under 18s. They show men being caught by a loved one, and a close friend unexpectedly walking in on them as they are viewing on their devices. The tension builds and it is made clear that both men know that what they are doing is wrong.

Adult family and friends of people who are, or are at risk of, offending online or offline can also get support from the Stop It Now! helpline, whether they are worried about another adult or a child or young person with worrying sexual behaviour.

The Stop It Now! helpline, which opened in 2002, is run by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, the only UK-wide child protection charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse.

Since, more than 46,000 people have contacted the helpline for support with all aspects of child sexual abuse prevention offline and online, including more than 5,000 people in the last year.

Recent independent evaluation of Stop It Now! found that after receiving advice, callers who are currently offending take steps to control their behaviour and stop.

For some this means completely ceasing all use of the Internet or of all pornography; for others it involves installing controls and filters on devices. Some seek support from their partners or family members to help manage their behaviour in the future.

In 2018 the National Crime Agency estimated 80,000 people in the UK posed a sexual threat to children online and police forces around the UK are making around 520 arrests each month relating to illegal online behaviour.

Many arrested people go on to contact Stop It Now! to start dealing with their behaviour.

Stop It Now! has also relaunched its self-help website for people worried about their own online viewing behaviour, or about someone else’s. Since 2015, more than 188,000 people in the UK have used the site.

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Donald Findlater, Director of the Stop It Now! helpline, said: “Tens of thousands of men in the UK are viewing and sharing sexual images of under 18s - these men are our friends, family, neighbours and colleagues.

"Most are adults, but a significant proportion are teenagers. Many of these men started viewing this illegal material as part of their adult pornography habit, somehow not noticing or perhaps caring that these were images of children being abused.

"Some don’t know the law and need it spelling out. A few are struggling with a long-standing sexual interest in children and think that looking at ’only pictures’ is a way of containing that interest.

“Whoever they are, they need to know this behaviour is illegal, it is not a victimless crime and viewing the images creates demand for more. Serious consequences await those involved in this behaviour, but our helpline and website give anonymous, and confidential support and advice to stop and stay stopped. Friends, family and colleagues need to know this too - so they notice and do something.

“The Stop It Now! helpline has worked with thousands of these men and the people around them over recent years - we help everyone be part of the solution to this problem. We hope to help thousands more in 2020."

Detective Chief Superintendent Emily Higham from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: "It’s our continued priority and duty to protect children from sexual exploitation and from those who seek to do them harm, including those who access and share indecent images of children online.

“Tackling this horrendous crime is our priority and a national priority, together with our partners we are using all available resources to arrest more offenders, safeguard more children and where possible, prevent offending in the first place.

“Anyone who is concerned about the online habits of someone they know should seek help from Stop It Now. Their confidential child sexual abuse prevention helpline gives anonymous, effective support for those worried about their own or someone else’s online sexual behaviour.”