Stop it Now! UK, Ireland & Wales - Child Sexual Abuse Campaign & Helpline

Stop it Now! Freephone Helpline 0808 1000 900 (UK & Ireland Only)

If you are unsure or worried about your own thoughts or behaviour towards children, or the behaviour of someone you know, whether they are an adult or a child, our experienced advisors can offer confidential advice on what steps you could take.

The Stop it Now! Freephone 0808 1000 900 Helpline is available from 9.00am - 9.00pm Mondays to Thursdays and from 9.00am - 7.00pm Fridays.

If you prefer to use e-mail, you can contact us for help and advice at the address below: help@stopitnow.org E-mails received at this address are anonymised to preserve confidentiality.
Please see confidentiality statement (below) before contacting us. Please be aware that e-mails sent to office@stopitnow.org.uk or any related Stop it Now! E-mail address are not confidential.

Confidentiality Statement

Our telephone Helpline offers a confidential service for people seeking advice and support. This means that when contacting us you do not have to give any identifying information such as address, telephone number or last name.

However if you do give us identifying information and we are concerned that a child is at risk or a criminal offence has been committed which the police may not be aware of, we will have to pass on that information to the appropriate agencies.

We also offer a confidential e-mail service, help@stopitnow.org.uk, on which you can contact us. Your e-mail address will not be displayed.

http://www.stopitnow.org.uk

Excellent link...thanks

Thats good to get advice if you are not quite sure of someones behaviour.

Putting child sexual abuse prevention on the political agenda

28 July 2010

Residents in Wales are being given the chance to get the prevention of child sexual abuse on the political agenda, thanks to a new campaign by Stop it Now! Wales.

Stop it Now! Wales is the only campaign running across the country that is solely dedicated to preventing the sexual abuse of children. Today, it is launching a new drive to urge all political parties to include protecting children from sexual harm in their forthcoming manifestos, ahead of the Assembly election in 2011.

The campaign, called Commit to Prevent!, allows members of the public to get involved by signing a petition and helping to spread the word through their social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and also offline through the use of posters, letters and flyers. Stop it Now! Wales National Campaign Manager, Rebecca Wasinski, said: "It's really important that as the political parties prepare their manifestos they have preventing child sexual abuse in their minds. Sexual abuse affects one in six children before they reach the age of 16 and devastates so many lives. It's vital that we strive to prevent abuse from taking place. We need an all-Wales national strategy to plan and deliver activities that will go a long way to protecting children. We know what will help and we need to start delivering it."

Specifically, the Commit to Prevent campaign is calling for:

• A national public information campaign to raise awareness of the scale of child sexual abuse and the steps we can all take to prevent it.
• Education for parents and carers how to help prevent child sexual abuse including resilience building in children, open and honest communication and implementing and respecting boundaries.
• Education for children and young people in schools and youth settings on respectful relationships, sexual boundaries, consent and appropriate touch.
• Specific training on child sexual abuse prevention for those who work with children and families including on how to identify and respond to signs of child sexual abuse
• Therapeutic services for children and families who suffer child sexual abuse
• Intervention services for adults and young people with worrying thoughts / behaviour towards children.

Voters can find out more and get involved by visiting www.stopitnow.org.uk or calling Rebecca Wasinski on 07989 378220.

http://www.epolitix.com/members/member-press/member-press-details/newsarticle/putting-child-sexual-abuse-prevention-on-the-political-agenda///sites/stop-it-now/

Commit to Prevent!

Stop it Now! Wales has launched the Commit to Prevent! campaign ahead of the 2011 Assembly election to urge all political parties to make protecting children from sexual abuse a priority.

We believe that child sexual abuse is preventable – and that our government can make a real difference to the lives of thousands of children, if they Commit to Prevent!

We want parties to include in their manifestos a Strategy for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse - ensuring implementation of:

• A national public information campaign to raise awareness of child sexual abuse and the possibilities for preventing it from happening
• Education for parents and carers how to help prevent child sexual abuse including resilience building in children, open and honest communication and implementing and respecting boundaries.
• Education for children and young people in schools and youth settings on respectful relationships, sexual boundaries, consent and appropriate touch.
• Specific training on child sexual abuse prevention for those who work with children and families including on how to identify and respond to signs of child sexual abuse
• Therapeutic services for children and families who suffer child sexual abuse
• Intervention services for adults and young people with worrying thoughts / behaviour towards children.

You can help by supporting our campaign and making your voice heard by those who are in a position to make a real difference.

How you can help:

Sign our petition!

Signing our online petition will only take a moment! You can also forward the link to your friends, family and colleagues to help grow support for the campaign. Please feel free to download this paper petition if you would prefer to collect signatures in person – it can then be returned to us at the address below.

Write to your local newspaper

Help us publicly highlight this issue with a ’Letter to the Editor’ of your local newspaper.

We have provided a sample template but the letters that have the most effect are those that are customized to include references to recent news along with your own personal opinions and views. Our sample demonstrates suggested length and structure – but please feel free to use it simply as a guide for your own letter.

If you write to your local newspaper – please do send us a copy as well. You can email: rwasinski@stopitnow.org.uk or post it to the address below.

Help us spread the word

There are are number of ways you can help us spread the word. You could put up this poster at your workplace, in your local shops or anywhere else you want to! You can also send it to your friends.

You can link to us on Facebook and Twitter and tell your online networks about your support for our campaign!

http://www.stopitnow.org.uk/campaign-structure--activities/wales/wales/commit-to-prevent!-.aspx