Local MP joins fight against child sexual abuse

Lucy Frazer MP confirms her support for the Internet Watch Foundation’s fight against online child sexual abuse.

The Southeast Cambridgeshire MP and member of the Select Committee on Education visited the offices of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) in Histon, Cambridge.

During her visit, Ms Frazer met IWF’s team of content analysts - the experts who identify online child sexual abuse material, assess reports made by the public, and work internationally to get these criminal images removed. 

She held discussions with IWF’s CEO Susie Hargreaves OBE and Director of External Relations Emma Hardy. They talked about:

• The IWF, its operations, and some of the challenges ahead, such as the discontinuation of the funding received from the European Commission as a result of Brexit.
• IWF Champions, an initiative to help raise awareness amongst UK politicians of where to report online child sexual abuse imagery and of our vision of eliminating this type of online content. 

Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO, says: “We were honoured to welcome Lucy to our offices last week. Being supported by parliamentarians – particularly our local MPs – is crucial to our goal of stopping online child sexual abuse imagery on the web. It’s important that we work together to create a safer and better internet for everyone. We’re delighted to strengthen our relationship with Lucy, and I am looking forward to working together in the future.“

Ms Frazer visited the IWF on 3 February 2017, just a few days before Safer Internet Day – a global movement that promotes a safer and more responsible use of digital technology for children and young people across the world.

Ends

Notes to editors:

Contact: Emma Hardy, IWF Director of External Relations +44 (0) 1223 203030 or +44 (0) 7929 553679.

A photograph of Claire Perry MP visiting IWF is available upon request.

What we do:

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.

We assess over 1,000 webpages per week. As a result of our work and self-regulatory model, known child sexual abuse content hosted in the UK has reduced from 18% in 1996 to 0.2% today

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.