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<strong>Child</strong> PornograPhy First report oF the Dutch NatioNal rapporteur
their own or another individual’s sexual thoughts and/or behaviour, 113 Stop it Now! also offers a free
anonymous 114 helpline (telephone or e-mail), which provides a safe place to speak in confidence, receive
advice and to make a decision as to what action must be taken. 115 The helpline can be contacted Monday
to Thursday between 9.00 am and 9.00 pm and on Friday between 9.00 am and 7.00 pm. Stop it Now!
also offers help to individuals who have contacted them, such as in the form of therapy. 116
Croga
Croga is a free and anonymous ‘self-help website’ 117 especially for individuals who are concerned
about their own sexual behaviour online 118 and wish to seek help in that regard. It is a partnership
between Stop it Now!, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and two Universities 119 and is also funded
by the EU. Croga provides information concerning child pornography on the Internet and also
concerning the consequences for the perpetrator and the victim, identifies problematic online behaviour
on the part of the individual who visits the site and assists the individual in changing this
behaviour. The website is regarded by Stop it Now! as a very valuable tool, but one that has become
very outdated. In addition to an update of the Croga website, Stop it Now! also advocates a Croga
service especially for family members and friends of perpetrators. 120
Recording of data by Stop it Now!
Stop it Now! received more than 20,000 telephone calls between June 2002 and January 2011. In 2010 it
received an average of 354 telephone calls per month – from 147 different individuals – and 111 e-mails. 121
113 These might be individuals who have not yet committed a criminal offence, but are concerned about
their thoughts/(future)behaviour – offline or online (secondary prevention); individuals (whether or
not known to the authorities) who have already committed acts of sexual violence against children –
offline or online (tertiary prevention); or family members and friends of (potential) perpetrators (both
secondary and tertiary prevention).
114 If an individual who contacts the helpline supplies personal details, Stop it Now! may involve the
police, particularly if it is strongly suspected that a child is in danger.
115 For that matter, Finkelhor notes the following with regard to a hotline for (potential) perpetrators.
The confidentiality offered to (potential) perpetrators when they contact the hotline is difficult to
reconcile with the current retaliatory climate that exists within society and it is difficult to justify on
ethical grounds. (Finkelhor, 2009).
116 Both group therapies – for example those especially for individuals who have only committed sex
offences online (offences such as viewing child abuse images on the Internet and grooming without
intending to actually meet the minor) or especially for family members and friends of perpetrators –
and therapy on an individual basis.
117 See www.croga.org (viewed 8 September 2011). The website is currently available in English, Spanish,
Italian and Polish. A translation into Finnish is also underway.
118 This concerns behaviour such as viewing child abuse material on the Internet or grooming or the need
to do so.
119 University College Cork, Ireland and Universidad de Almeria, Spain.
120 Information supplied verbally by Stop it Now!, working visit on 9 March 2011. In Belgium, a website is
available for parents, children or partners of sex offenders, see www.familievan.be (viewed 8 September
2011).
121 Information supplied verbally by Stop it Now!, working visit on 9 March 2011.