Approaches Used Overseas: UK Film Urges CP Viewers to Stop, Call Helpline
A new short film which aims to act as a “wake-up call” to people viewing child sex abuse images online has been released by a charity urging offenders to call its helpline and put a stop to their behavior.
Last month the charity released figures showing that the number of people accessing the Stop it Now! helpline had risen by two thirds in the past year to more than 270,000.
Its latest research suggests 70% of people would encourage a friend or family member to seek help if they believed they were looking at sexual images or videos of children.
The helpline director said he wanted to let people know “it isn’t too late to stop. The thousands of men who call us after being arrested tell us they wish they’d made a change and stopped sooner.“
Could such an approach work here in the U.S.? Would it do a better job of cutting the demand for such images?
Europe focuses more on prevention rather than incarceration. The United States focuses more on incarceration rather than prevention.
In Europe, a person who feels that they have abnormal feelings for children can reach out for help from therapists/counselors without the police having to be notified. In the United States, if a person reaches out for such help, the therapist/counselor is required by law to notify the police.
Ok Q. Viewing such stuff as CP is against the law right ?
So my Q. is this. Knowing it’s against the law why doesn’t the police/gov. Start blocking these sites on the internet, yes i know it would prob. Be a never ending thing. But… isn’t it poss. to do so ?
Sometimes we view law enforcement as all-powerful. But they don’t necessarily have the capability to block a site that’s not under their control. And sometimes people post or transmit illegitimate material using a legitimate site.
If it wasn’t for the First Amendment, computer companies could easily build computers that automatically block those sites, just like I can go into my settings and block porn. But since adult porn is legal, I don’t think computer companies could get away with selling computers that automatically do this, plus, how many people would actually buy one? Not everyone wants access to legal porn blocked.
And you’re right about people sometimes posting illegal material on legal site. A popular porn website recently was busted for cp videos. Now granted, the site allows users to upload material, but they could have done a better job screening the material that was submitted.
With millions and billions of websites out there, the police are far too understaffed to monitor all of them. That’s why they have the NCMEC who will investigate cases of alleged illegal material on the internet when a member of the public reports it.
Internet providers could do a better job themselves. They know every website you visit and your IP address. They could easily flag an IP address for searching or visiting illegal material sites and turn the information over the the authorities, but its not done often enough because I don’t think its monitored enough.
I used to be extremely addicted to porn until one day I watched a documentary about girls in the porn industry. I used to think it was no big deal because these girls are willing participants, and indeed most girls are. But the documentary exposed so much, like how a lot of girls are drugged, raped, underpaid or not paid at all. Many girls who got out of the industry spoke about how it ruined their lives, and how they came out just as broke financially as they were when they first got in. It made me stop watching porn very quick.
The same technology that is used to detect it could be used to filter it from the major search engines and sites. No brainer, but LE has another agenda apparently.
I’m all for LE going after these darkweb peer to peer porn rings where images and abuse are going on in a willful and organized manner. That is a level to which we can all agree needs aggressive policing.
“Europe focuses more on prevention rather than incarceration. The United States focuses more on incarceration rather than prevention.”
Ahh Europe, the last Beacon of Freedom, Hope and Common Sense. America could learn a lot if it didn’t already think, falsely, that they are “the greatest”.
I doubt this would work in the US. If someone called the hotline to talk about their problem, who’s to say the person on the other line won’t report him to the authorities? It’s very simple to get a name and other information from a phone number.
Because in Europe they treat child pornography as a sexual addiction and not a sex crime.