Stop It Now!, a child sexual abuse helpline, has seen an increase in referrals it is receiving from men looking for help with sexual thoughts
A charity has called for more to be done to stop adults committing sexual offences against children.
Stop It Now! Scotland, a child abuse prevention charity based in the West End of Edinburgh has seen a substantial increase in the number of referrals it is receiving from men looking for help with their sexual thoughts, feelings or behaviours towards children. Many of whom have already been arrested for accessing indecent images of children.
Earlier this week, the NSPCC reported that there were 5325 offences committed against children in Scotland in 2018-19.
Stuart Allardyce, director of Stop It Now! Scotland, said: “Comparing last year’s figures to the numbers of people we have already seen this year we are on course to work with 60% more people than we did in the last year. Through our work with Police Scotland and other partners more people are coming to us for help to manage their thoughts, feelings and actions towards children.
“It is not enough to simply say that we must provide more services for victims. What we also need to do is to reach out to those who are worried about offending against children to prevent them from offending in the first place. Stop It Now! Scotland are unique in that we are the only people specifically working with people who are worried about their own sexual thoughts, feelings and behaviours towards children.
“We are seeing more and more people each year and from evaluations over the years we know that this kind of work makes children’s lives safer and prevents abuse from occurring. Over the past eight years we have worked with over 1000 people who have reached out for our help, and our team is bigger than ever before.
“The work we do offers practical support and help to keep children safe. We work with adult male and female sexual abusers; young people who exhibit harmful sexual behaviours; victims of abuse and other family members. Our work with men who have committed offences, or who are worried about committing offences, tells us many knew what they were doing was wrong – but that they didn’t know how to stop.”
