IWF Chief is awarded an OBE

Susie Hargreaves is Chief Executive of the IWF, the Cambridge based charity that works internationally to help remove online child sexual abuse imagery. She has been awarded her OBE in the Queen’s prestigious Birthday Honours List for her work in the field of online child protection.

On hearing of her award, Susie said: “This is a great honour not only for me, but the whole IWF team. It is because of the dedicated work done by our team of analysts, that we’ve been able to make such a significant global impact in the battle to against online child sexual abuse images and videos. So I have them to thank for this recognition and I am extremely proud of the success of IWF and the work of our whole team.”

Since joining the IWF in 2011, Susie has devoted her professional life to making the internet a safer place and the battle against online child sexual abuse imagery. Previously she has worked in the charity sector for more than 25 years in a range of senior positions.

Susie is an Executive Board member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and the NCA CEOP Command Strategic Governance Group. She’s also a member of the International Advisory Board of WePROTECT, the global initiative against online child exploitation, a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Child Online Protection Working Group, a Steering Group Member of UK Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and a Clore Fellow.

In addition to this, she’s an Advisory Group member of the UK and Ireland child sexual abuse prevention campaign, Stop it Now!, the British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) Consultative Council and a UNICEF Reference Group Member.

During her time at the IWF, Susie has overseen a number of IWF milestones including the introduction of active searches for online child sexual abuse imagery. As a result of this, the charity recently reported a 417% increase in confirmed reports of this illegal material, over a two year period.

Sir Richard Tilt, IWF Chair, said: “As Chair of the Internet Watch Foundation I am absolutely delighted to hear of the award of the OBE to our Chief Executive, Susie Hargreaves. Susie has been CEO for almost five years and has developed the organisation to the point where it is one of the leading hotlines in the world, recognised as a centre of excellence internationally. She has brought tremendous commitment to the vital job of removing child sexual abuse material from the internet as quickly as possible and has built a team of staff dedicated to making the internet a safer place.”

Susie is married to Arts Consultant and Theatre Director Marcus Romer and they have two children. The couple have lived and worked in Cambridge for close to five years.

Ends

Notes to Editors

Contact:

Lisa Stacey, IWF Communications Manager +44 (0) 1223 203030 or +44 (0) 7929 553679.

For more information on the award, please contact The Cabinet Press Office.
1.    Photographs are available on request.
2.    For interviews, contact the IWF Press Office.

At IWF:

We make the internet a safer place. We help victims of child sexual abuse worldwide by identifying and removing online images and videos of their abuse. We search for child sexual abuse images and videos and offer a place for the public to report them anonymously. We then have them removed. We’re a not for profit organisation and are supported by the global internet industry and the European Commission.

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.