Shining a spotlight on online grooming: a research blog post by Dr Sarah Wefers
Research is at the heart of everything we do and we are pleased to announce that our recent article “Understanding and deterring online child grooming: A qualitative study” has been published this February in the academic journal Sexual Offending: Theory, Research and Prevention. In this brand-new blog post, our Practitioner-Researcher Dr Sarah Wefers discusses how […]
Situational prevention: the practical approach to preventing child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a rapidly growing issue in the UK with estimates showing that more than one in six children will be sexually abused before the age of 16. Preventing this is a challenge in the UK and globally and a solution requires tangible steps that are easy to implement and simple to understand. […]
Pioneering chatbot reduces searches for illegal sexual images of children
A major 18-month trial project has demonstrated that a first-of-its-kind chatbot and warning message can reduce the number of online searches that may potentially be indicative of intent to find sexual images of children. A new report published today by the University of Tasmania has found people looking for sexual images of children on the […]
A new directory to help family and friends of people arrested for online sexual offending access support
In 2021, there were over 850 arrests across the UK for viewing sexual images of under-18s every single month. Many of the people arrested have children of their own or contact with children in their wider family. Compared to people convicted of other forms of sexual offending, research suggests that people who view sexual images […]
A call to end AI-generated child sexual abuse
As the risks to children evolve, so does our response. The next stage of our work to deter people from online child sexual abuse shines a light on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) and its use to make sexual images of children – an alarming and growing problem. A concerning trend Today, we’re publishing […]
Breaking the stigma: reflecting on more than a decade of child sexual abuse prevention in Wales
“What we do is very difficult – it’s difficult to talk about,” says Claire Short, national manager of Lucy Faithfull Foundation Wales. “But we do it because we want to help break down the stigma and taboo of talking about child sexual abuse. This is the only way we will prevent it.” Last month marked […]
The role of lived experience in preventing child sexual abuse
A guest blog post by Megan Hinton I recently joined the Marie Collins Foundation as a Victim and Survivor Advocate. My role involves working alongside those with lived experience of technology-assisted child sexual abuse, to champion and amplify their voice and embed it into policy, practice, and academia. As a survivor myself part of my […]
NPCC report highlights the shocking scale of child sexual abuse in the UK and the need for all of us to play our part in prevention.
Today’s report from the National Police Chiefs’ Council is a sobering reminder of the realities of child sexual abuse in the UK. According to today’s figures, there were 107,000 recorded child sexual abuse offences in 2022. Responding, Deborah Denis, CEO of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said: “While this is a shocking figure in its own […]
CEO Deborah Denis responds to the news that Meta will introduce end to end encryption across more of its platforms
Today, Meta announced its decision to introduce end to end encryption across all Facebook and Messenger chats. In response to the news, our Chief Executive Deborah Denis has issued a statement about the potential child safety implications of this decision. Deborah Denis said: “Meta’s decision to introduce end to end encryption on more of its platforms […]
