How Stop It Now! works

The safety of children lies at the heart of the work of the Stop It Now! Australia helpline. Education and helplines for children are a key part of child protection services, but we can’t just leave it to children to protect themselves – it’s up to adults to keep children safe from abuse. We recognise the importance of giving adults a safe space to explore their concerns. That’s why the Stop It Now! Australia helpline provides an anonymous space for people to talk about their concerns and get the help needed to prevent child sexual abuse.

Anyone who is concerned about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts or behaviour towards children can call our anonymous helpline on 1800 01 1800, or use our anonymous live chat.

The helpline guidelines continue to be revised and developed, in line with person-centred support, and child protection principles. 

Who do we support?

We offer support to anyone affected by child sexual abuse, including individuals concerned about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts or behaviour towards children. If you want support you can reach out to our anonymous helpline to access on-going support and guidance regarding your concerns. We also have several anonymous online resources for people to access. 

We offer support and guidance to: 

Adults concerned about their own thoughts or behaviours

Are you worried about your thoughts towards children? Have you acted or communicated with a child inappropriately? Is your adult pornography use becoming concerning? Have you been accessing sexual images of children? You can look through the information available on our website and begin to take the steps needed to understand and manage the thoughts or behaviours. We are here to talk through the issues, help you take the next steps and make sure children are safe.

Adults concerned about another adults thoughts or behaviours

Are you worried about how someone you know behaves around children? Or about how they talk about children? Has someone you know been arrested for child sexual abuse offences, including viewing child sexual abuse materials online? Perhaps you’re worried about the possible consequences of saying or doing something? It’s important to remember that you are not alone – we can help you.

Adults concerned about a child or young person’s sexual behaviour

Are you a parent, family member, or friend that is worried about a child or young person’s sexual thoughts or behaviour? You can look through the information available on the website so you have the knowledge and insights to help and support a child or young person. We are here to listen and want to reassure you that this is a safe space for you. 

Adults concerned about a child or young person who may have been abused

Are you a parent, family member or friend that is worried about a child or young person who may have been abused, or may be at risk of abuse? It can feel scary, daunting, and sometimes confusing to know what to do and who to contact. We are here to listen and help support you to keep children and young people safe from harm.

Child concerned about their own thoughts or behaviour

Are you a child or young person that is concerned about their own sexual thoughts or behaviour? We want to reassure you that you are not alone, there is support available. We recognise that it can seem scary to reach out for help, so well done for taking this brave step. 

Adult victim-survivors of child sexual abuse

Are you an adult who is a victim-survivor of child sexual abuse? We recognise it can be very hard to talk to someone and we want to reassure you that this is a safe space for you. We are here to listen and to support you.

Professionals seeking case advice 

Are you working with a child or an adult who is a victim-survivor of child sexual abuse? Are you working with a family member who is concerned about someone else’s sexual thoughts or behaviour? Are you working with someone who is concerned about their own sexual thoughts or behaviour? Are you a teacher who has noticed inappropriate sexual behaviour in the classroom? We can help you keep children and young people safe by providing guidance and support.

What happens when I contact the helpline?

Our anonymity policy is explained to everyone at the start of their interaction with us, whether this is a call, chat or email. Our anonymity policy is: 

“Our service is anonymous and you do not have to identify yourself or anybody else during your call. We will not ask your name and in order to remain anonymous, it is important that you do not provide any identifiable information to us. However, we may be obligated to report information you do provide to relevant agencies if we believe that child abuse has occurred, or is likely to occur. This includes offending behaviour online.”

Following this, our experienced practitioners will:

  • Talk through the issues, helping you explore your concerns

  • Explore any immediate child protection considerations with you

  • Provide information and support to help you begin to understand your situation and think about next steps

  • Discuss available support and possible actions you can take 

  • Collaboratively agree on one or more protective actions you can take following the discussion.

Where possible, practitioners will recommend relevant local agencies, resources, and support and provide web-based resources where appropriate. We encourage people to continue to connect with the Stop It Now! Australia helpline for ongoing support with following through on their protective action plans. Note that the support and guidance offered will vary depending on your specific concerns and needs. We keep written case notes of each call in a secure database that is governed by standard privacy regulations.

You can read our privacy policy here.

Who manages and monitors the helpline? 

The running of the helpline is overseen by the Stop It Now! Australia manager under the guidance of The Men’s Project Executive Director, Jesuit Social Services. The experienced helpline practitioners receive on-going training and professional development regarding child sexual abuse prevention and service delivery. Internal audits are completed to ensure that the service being delivered is in-line with the practice model and program guidelines.

The program seeks endorsement, consultation, and guidance from the Oversight and Operations Group and the National Program Advisory Group. The two groups operate at different governance levels yet both comprise experienced professionals within the child sexual abuse prevention sector.  

Accurate record-keeping is essential to the management and evaluation of the Stop It Now! Australia helpline service. Brief notes from all interactions are logged in our anonymous and secure database. Interactions are audited on a monthly basis to inform staff supervision and to ensure the quality of our service. An electronic database enables analysis of call trends. Our recording and auditing systems are subject to regular review to ensure accurate recording and good quality of service to our callers. 

The University of Melbourne is conducting an evaluation of the Stop It Now! Australia service and will measure the impact of the program on child sexual perpetration. This will be achieved by exploring the mechanisms of success and effects of the program, identifying facilitators and barriers to the national scale-up of the program, and exploring the characteristics of individuals who contact the helpline. The evaluation will focus primarily on two groups: people worried about their own thoughts and behaviour in relation to children; and family members and friends of people who are at risk of sexually abusing children. Data will be collected through a mixture of surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

If you would like to provide any feedback regarding the service or wish to make a complaint, please email us anonymously via our secure messaging system. To provide feedback or make a complaint, you can do this through an online form on the Jesuit Social Services website. You can make a complaint without giving us your name and details, but this might limit the actions we can take to resolve the problem. If you provide your contact details, we will contact you within two working days to discuss how we will respond to your feedback or complaint. If you provide your feedback anonymously, we will be unable to contact you but we will carefully consider what you have said. If you make a complaint, we will investigate the complaint, decide the action to be taken and notify you of the outcome.

Who is Jesuit Social Services?

Established in 1977, our tradition is based in Jesuit Mission which commits us to shape a world in which the dignity of each human being and their independence on one another and on the environment are respected, with the result that the persons, society, and the works may flourish. We seek to prevent child abuse by engaging with adults who may go on to harm children and hold them accountable for their behaviour.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse identified a gap in preventative interventions for potential perpetrators and Stop It Now! was highlighted as a potential model to adopt in the National Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Strategy and this has been reflected in the Strategy released in September 2021. Jesuit Social Services, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, are piloting a Stop It Now! Australia helpline staffed by highly skilled practitioners. We are working closely with professionals, as well as victim survivors of child sexual abuse, to ensure their knowledge and voice help shape the service and the response.

As a child protection charity, we work to prevent child sexual abuse by making sure adults know what they can do to keep children safe. Through our anonymous online advice and self-help resources, we can help you:

If you want information on how to keep children safe offline and online.

Our vision

Jesuit Social Services: Building a just society.

Stop It Now! Australia: For children to live in a world where they can be safe and free from sexual abuse and exploitation. 

Our mission

Jesuit Social Services: Standing in solidarity with those in need. Expressing a faith that promotes justice.

Stop It Now! Australia: To prevent child sexual abuse by providing a supportive, action-driven service for adults concerned about child sexual abuse.  

What is the history of Stop It Now!?

Fran Henry, a survivor of child sexual abuse in her family in the USA, recognised how vital it was for the problem of child sexual abuse not to remain hidden, nor to be seen as something only professionals could do anything about. Fran founded Stop It Now! (USA) in 1992 with the aim of giving all adults access to a safe and confidential place in which to discuss their concerns and receive the advice and support needed to keep children safe. They established a helpline to provide such a place for adults, including for those who had abused or were at risk of abusing. They continue to be the only helpline in the US that serves people who have sexual thoughts about children.

In their 2021 fiscal year, Stop It Now! (USA) received 1,894 personal inquiries with 23% of contacts about the person’s own thoughts and behaviours and 55% were about situations where abuse had not yet happened, but there were warning signs and crossed boundaries (Stop It Now! FY21 Annual Report). That year they also launched WhatsOK.org, a free website and helpline for young people with questions about healthy sexuality, porn addiction, and concerning thoughts.

Building on this visionary concept, Stop It Now! UK and Ireland was established in 2002 by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation – the only UK-wide charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse. In 2020/21, 7300 people received advice and support through the Stop It Now UK and Ireland Helpline, with 97% of callers agreeing one or more actions to take to protect a child. 47% of people contacting the helpline are concerned with their own sexual thoughts or behaviour and 30% concerned about the sexual thoughts or behaviour of another adult or child (The Lucy Faithfull Foundation Annual Report 2020/21).

Stop It Now! Wales, Stop It Now! Scotland, and Stop It Now! Ireland are all services provided by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation. Collectively, they deliver on government-funded early intervention projects and other projects that drive good practice; support parents, carers, families, and communities to keep children safe; provide toolkits and support for practitioners and offer a wide range of training courses and public education sessions.

The Stop It Now! Netherlands helpline was launched in March 2012 and has been contacted more than 4000 times since then. The helpline was established in collaboration with the Expertisecentre Online Child Sexual Abuse (EOKM) and forensic outpatient centre De Waag. They offer anonymous support to individuals at risk of committing (online) child sexual abuse and if necessary, refer people for specialised treatment at De Waag.

In 2017 the Stop It Now! Flanders (BE) service was established to prevent child sexual abuse through support, changing attitudes, and lowering barriers for guidance and treatment. Over just under three years of operating, the helpline received an average of 35 contacts per month with 55% of contacts concerned about themselves. 114 referrals have been made for treatment with 63 in treatment (October 2019) (Stop It Now! Flanders (BE) presentation at EUCPN, 2020)

The Stop It Now! Australia service builds on the expertise and knowledge of these different international child sexual abuse prevention services. These existing services have demonstrated year on year the strong and growing demand with qualitative research suggesting users found the helpline supportive of behaviour change and enabling them to better protect children. To find more information regarding the 30 years of Stop It Now! please visit the Stop It Now! (USA) 30th anniversary page.