25. Deterring On-line Child Abuse

Welcome to Episode 25 of the Social Justice Salon. In this episode, we get to grips with ways to deter online child abuse. Marianne is joined by Frances Frost, a senior leader in the Lucy Faithful Foundation who are pioneering work in on-line abuse deterrence. The Lucy Faithful Foundation works to stop child sexual abuse before it happens. Both working with adults and young people to stop it in the first place, or if it already has, prevent it from happening again. This involves working with people who pose a risk and diverting them from causing harm as well as supporting individuals and families who have been affected by abuse. Lucy Faithful Foundation work with statutory services in social care, law enforcement, and education, as well as fellow charities to create safer environments for children. Marianne and Frances discuss how the internet has led to an explosion in the level of child abuse images on-line and how widespread access to them is. We explore the variety of ways that the Lucy Faithful Foundation has worked with tech companies and governments in order to set up sign posts and bots to alert people to problematic images. Lucy Faithful explain how their resources such as Stop It Now and Shore are helping people recognise the seriousness and dangerousness of their own actions, and crucially change themselves, so they can be diverted away from committing online abuse. Links and more info Visit Lucy Faithful Foundation’s website Access the Stop it Now resources Access the Shore resources for teenagers Follow Lucy Faithful Foundation on Instagram Follow the podcast on Instagram Follow Marianne on Instagram and TikTok Become a member of Marianne’s Patreon Music by Luke Fraser at The Tonic and Artwork was by Marianne