Published: Wed 18 Mar 2015
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a form of sexual abuse that involves the manipulation and/or coercion of young people under the age of 18 into sexual activity.
The National CSE Awareness Day (18 March 2015) aims to highlight the issues surrounding CSE; encouraging everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse and adopt a zero tolerance to adults developing inappropriate relationships with children.
As the UK Hotline for reporting images and videos of child sexual abuse online, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is proud to support National CSE Awareness Day. Our vision is the elimination of child sexual abuse images online, and we are committed to working with partners and relevant organisations worldwide to achieve this vision. On National CSE Awareness Day we encourage everyone who may stumble across online child sexual abuse content to report it to us anonymously and confidentially via our website www.iwf.org.uk.
Susie Hargreaves, IWF CEO, said: “We all know the fight against child sexual exploitation is not one we can win on our own, and that is why the National CSE Awareness Day is so important. At the IWF we have made significant steps forward in the fight against child sexual abuse online.
“Due to the continued support of the online industry, the UK leads the world; in 1996, 18% of the world’s known child sexual abuse imagery was hosted in the UK. Since 2003, it has been less than 1%. Today it is less than 0.3%.
“On this important day I urge everyone to unite against child sexual exploitation. The IWF is here to take reports of child sexual abuse material online, but there are many other incredibly important organisations out there to turn to for guidance and support concerning CSE.”
Show your support by writing a personal pledge on the palm of your hand and posting to your social media profile with the hashtag #HelpingHands to help raise awareness of CSE.
Notes to editors:
Contact: Emma Hardy, IWF Director of External Relations +44 (0) 1223 203030 or +44 (0) 7929 553679.
About the IWF
The IWF is the Hotline to report:
· child sexual abuse content hosted anywhere in the world;
· criminally obscene adult content hosted in the UK;
· non-photographic child sexual abuse images hosted in the UK.
For more information please visit www.iwf.org.uk.
The IWF is part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, working with Childnet International and the South West Grid for Learning to promote the safe and responsible use of technology.
Local MP Ian Sollom learned about the herculean task faced by analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) who find, assess and remove child sexual abuse material on the internet.
