TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of a public health campaign to deter viewing of child sexual abuse images online
T2 - A case study of the UK Stop It Now! Campaign
AU - Newman, Emily
AU - Efthymiadou, Erifili
AU - Quayle, Ethel
AU - Squire, Tom
AU - Denis, Deborah
AU - Wortley, Richard
AU - Beier, Klaus M.
AU - Koukopoulos, Nikolaos
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported in this paper was supported by funding from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, UK.
PY - 2023/10/14
Y1 - 2023/10/14
N2 - Public campaigns offer an opportunity to prevent child sexual abuse by raising awareness and promoting help available to bystanders, victims, and those at risk of perpetrating the abuse. This paper explores the impact of The Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s ‘Stop It Now!’ campaign in the UK (2015–2018) on help-seeking. Helpline calls (11,190 unique callers), website analytics (109,432 new website visitors) and three website-hosted surveys (N = 252) provided data on help-seeking, awareness, and self-reported behavior. Results indicated that there were more visitors to the help website during active campaigning periods, and helpline callers and website visitors were more likely to seek help after viewing campaign materials during active than non-active campaign periods. Help-seekers were predominantly men concerned about their own behavior. Survey 2 respondents concerned about their own behavior (n = 53) indicated that their awareness of the law (75.5%), and legal and personal consequences (67.9%) had changed after hearing about the campaign, and 66% reported a change in behavior. Public health campaigns may be an effective way to promote help-seeking and prevent abuse.
AB - Public campaigns offer an opportunity to prevent child sexual abuse by raising awareness and promoting help available to bystanders, victims, and those at risk of perpetrating the abuse. This paper explores the impact of The Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s ‘Stop It Now!’ campaign in the UK (2015–2018) on help-seeking. Helpline calls (11,190 unique callers), website analytics (109,432 new website visitors) and three website-hosted surveys (N = 252) provided data on help-seeking, awareness, and self-reported behavior. Results indicated that there were more visitors to the help website during active campaigning periods, and helpline callers and website visitors were more likely to seek help after viewing campaign materials during active than non-active campaign periods. Help-seekers were predominantly men concerned about their own behavior. Survey 2 respondents concerned about their own behavior (n = 53) indicated that their awareness of the law (75.5%), and legal and personal consequences (67.9%) had changed after hearing about the campaign, and 66% reported a change in behavior. Public health campaigns may be an effective way to promote help-seeking and prevent abuse.
KW - child sexual abuse images
KW - online sex offending
KW - internet
KW - campaign
U2 - 10.1177/10790632231205784
DO - 10.1177/10790632231205784
M3 - Article
SN - 1079-0632
SP - 1
EP - 27
JO - Sexual Abuse
JF - Sexual Abuse
ER -