Internet Watch Foundation

Extract from a House of Lords Debate on Crime: Sexual Offences on 29 November 2007

Baroness Pitkeathley: We must never forget that behind most pornographic images of children is an abused child and that, like women who have been raped, they will suffer for years, probably all their lives, not only from the offence itself but from the knowledge that such material will be pored over for years by viewers. According to the Internet Watch Foundation, access to this type of material has quadrupled over three years and the more serious degrading images are growing in number fastest. Of course, the police are overwhelmed by the time taken to track down those who download this stuff, but there is an increasing understanding that we must also devote time to discover the producers, often part of big international concerns, not just the distributors and buyers. We cannot ignore the part that poverty plays in this; when people are poor they are, as we know, driven to desperation, which leads to them being vulnerable to abusers.

 

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 has succeeded in providing a clear legal framework to tackle sexual offending in the 21st century. The extension of what constitutes the offence of rape and the introduction of other offences was very much to be welcomed. In particular, it offered a coherent regime of offences to tackle sexual offending against children, especially those aged under 13. This ability to offer greater protection to vulnerable members of the community, especially children, was a great step forward, particularly identifying predatory acts such as grooming.

 

Through the Internet Watch Foundation, progress has continued to be made in regulating the internet. Perhaps we can find some small measure of comfort in the fact that less than 1 per cent of child abuse content appears to be hosted here in the United Kingdom. Recently, there have also been welcome signs that internet service providers are taking a more proactive approach themselves. Of course, the Government actively support efforts within the European Union and more widely to combat child pornography on the internet.

 

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Source: Lords Hansard text 29 November 2007