Category Archives: Children

New law will create a specific offence for making, selling or owning child-like sexual abuse dolls, with jail terms of up to 5 years – Home Office

The government has backed a new law banning depraved child-like sexual abuse dolls.

The Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Private Members’ Bill, which progressed to committee stage, will make it illegal to buy, sell or own these vile dolls. Anyone caught with one could face up to 5 years behind bars.

Police have encountered these items while investigating child sexual abuse suspects and when monitoring registered sex offenders, but current legislation does not provide a specific offence for owning or making these dolls. By closing this crucial loophole, the bill will give police greater powers, stopping abusers and helping to prevent them from harming real children.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Satvir Kaur said:

Children must be protected from sexual abuse in every form – online, offline and wherever the threat appears.

As the mum of a young child myself, I am horrified these disturbing dolls even exist. This new law will mean we can seize them and prosecute anyone involved in their sick trade.

This government is supporting this bill as part of our drive to expose abuse sooner, disrupt offenders faster and protect more vulnerable children from these horrors.

The bill builds on tough new measures in the Crime and Policing Act to intensify the response to both online and contact child sexual abuse. These include:

  • bringing in a mandatory duty for people in key roles to report suspected child sexual abuse
  • creating a new offence for anyone interfering with the duty to report
  • making grooming an aggravating factor when courts sentence child sexual offences
  • world-leading new offences to fight the rising tide of AI child sexual abuse material
  • giving Border Force more powers to stop digital child sexual abuse material at our borders

These legal efforts are buttressed by historic levels of funding. The government recently announced a record £100 million to combat child sexual abuse, improve the police response to these crimes, go after offenders and give victims and survivors the protection and support they need.

Abigail Gill, Acting Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the NSPCC, said:

We are pleased to see this bill pass its second reading in Parliament and strongly support its continued progress. The bill, which seeks to criminalise the manufacture, distribution and possession of child‑like sexual abuse dolls, is an important step towards closing a dangerous gap in the law.

There is no comprehensive evidence that the use of these grotesque dolls prevents potential offenders from committing contact offences against children. In fact, using these dolls or other realistic props could risk adults becoming desensitised, as is often seen among those who view indecent images.

Anything that appears to normalise or mimic the abuse of children and young people is dangerous and unacceptable. We urge the government to continue backing this bill to ensure it becomes law so that no child is left at risk of harm.

Gabrielle Shaw, Chief Executive, NAPAC said:

Survivors know the devastating consequences of a culture in which the sexualisation of children is tolerated or minimised. Whether through child-like sex dolls or the misuse of online technologies, there should be no means by which children can be sexualised for adult gratification. NAPAC welcomes the steps the government is taking to make it clear that no product, platform or technology should be designed or used in this way.

Lynn Perry, Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, said:

Products that deliberately replicate the bodies of children for sexual purposes have no place in our society. They normalise harmful attitudes towards children and no one should be able to profit from this.

This bill sends a clear message – the sexualisation of children in any form is completely unacceptable.

Naomi Miles, CEO of CEASE (Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation)

CEASE welcomes the government’s support for this hugely important bill to ban child-like sexual abuse dolls. This is an important step forward for child protection – we applaud the government for listening to the evidence and backing decisive action to close this dangerous legislative gap. It sends a clear and welcome signal that there should be no place in our society for products that risk normalising the sexual abuse of children.

With the government now firmly behind this bill as it progresses through Parliament, we need to see the same courage and urgency applied to digital equivalents of child-like sexual abuse dolls.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-law-to-ban-depraved-child-like-sexual-abuse-dolls

September 16, 2026

First UK-wide clinical guidelines for paediatric non-fatal strangulation launched to transform the clinical response – IFAS

The Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS) has recently published the UK’s first Guidelines for clinical management of paediatric (under 16) non-fatal strangulation, closing a significant gap in clinical practice and providing dedicated guidance for healthcare professionals for the first time.

Building on IFAS’s previously published adult clinical guidelines for emergency and acute care settings, the new guidance responds to the clear need for dedicated recommendations for paediatric patients. Until now, clinicians caring for children following suspected or confirmed non-fatal strangulation had no dedicated UK guidance and often had to rely on protocols developed for adults. The new guidelines have been developed by a UK-wide Intercollegiate Working Group convened by IFAS, bringing together more than 60 senior clinicians, Royal Colleges, professional bodies and frontline professionals from across the UK to develop evidence-informed, consensus-based recommendations.

The guidance arrives against a backdrop of increasing concern. Home Office data shows recorded non-fatal strangulation and suffocation offences against under-18s in England and Wales increased from 2,130 in 2022–23 to 4,888 in 2024–25 (IFAS Police Report Data, 2023–2025). Evidence also shows that hanging/strangulation is the most common method of suicide among children and young people in England, accounting for 69% of deaths in 2019–20 (National Child Mortality Database Programme, 2021).

The guidelines provide practical recommendations covering clinical assessment, imaging, safeguarding, mental health, admission and discharge planning, while recognising that children who have experienced strangulation may present with little or no visible injury despite the potential for significant harm.

Alongside the clinical guidelines, IFAS has also published a new information leaflet for children, young people and their families following a medical assessment for non-fatal strangulation. The leaflet has been developed to help children, young people and their families better understand non-fatal strangulation, what to expect following a medical assessment, and where they can access further support and information.

Dr Catherine Hayhurst, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Co-Chair Quality in Emergency Care Committee, Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said:

“RCEM is pleased that a review of the evidence has shown that there is no need to routinely do a CT angiogram in young people given the radiation exposure. This update of the guidance continues to have an emphasis on safeguarding and also highlights mental health issues for patients presenting with non-fatal strangulation.”

Professor Cath White, Medical Director, IFAS, said:

“There simply wasn’t a UK guideline for managing non-fatal strangulation in children, so clinicians were doing their best with guidance written for adults. We brought together more than 60 clinicians from across the UK – including Royal Colleges, specialist organisations and frontline professionals – to build something better. We listened, challenged one another and developed guidance that addresses a real need. These are the first UK guidelines, but they won’t be the last. As the evidence grows, we’ll continue to learn and refine them to ensure children receive the best possible care.”

Bernie Ryan OBE, Chief Executive of IFAS, said:

“Our adult clinical guidelines helped establish a more consistent response to non-fatal strangulation across the UK. Children deserve that same standard of evidence-based clinical and trauma-informed care. These new guidelines, together with the new information leaflet developed in partnership with SafeLives Changemakers, survivors and Beyond Equality, are the result of extraordinary collaboration across the healthcare community and represent an important step forward in improving outcomes for children and young people.”

About IFAS

The Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS) is the UK’s leading authority on non-fatal strangulation, established in October 2022 with Home Office funding. IFAS works across research, training, policy and survivor engagement, alongside partners in government, healthcare, criminal justice, and specialist services, to improve the UK’s understanding and response to strangulation. Since 2022, IFAS and its partners have trained more than 22,000 frontline professionals, including through its partnership with SafeLives.

https://ifas.org.uk/blog/https-first-uk-wide-clinical-guidelines-for-paediatric-non-fatal-strangulation-launched-to-transform-the-clinical-response/

 

August 26, 2026

Record funding to tackle grooming gangs and child sex abuse – Home Office

The Home Office has announced (19 May 2026) £100 million to fight child sex offences and protect victims and survivors, including £38 million for Operation Beaconport.

A historic £100 million will drive a crackdown on child sexual abuse, including tracking down vile grooming gang members, protecting victims and bringing offenders to justice. Perpetrators who thought they got away with horrific grooming gang offences will be held to account as closed cases are reopened.

Operation Beaconport will receive a tenfold cash injection, building on the £4 million the operation received when it launched last autumn. £38 million has been set aside for the National Crime Agency (NCA) and operational partners to reopen and investigate cases and put more offenders behind bars. It is focused on furthering critical work to protect victims wherever abuse takes place – in our communities, families, online and institutions.

Police forces in England and Wales will also have greater access to pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) technology to weed out and bring predators to justice more rapidly. To support this, the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme, led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), will receive £9.3 million this year.

This includes a suite of advanced, AI-enabled intelligence tools, ensuring all forces, regardless of size or local resources, can use cutting-edge technology to pursue offenders faster and better safeguard victims.

This enables officers to analyse large datasets, translate foreign-language material in seconds, and identify patterns and relationships between suspects. By reducing manual processes and unifying access to proven tools, the programme focuses on accelerating investigations and creates a more consistent, intelligence-led national response.

£11.7 million will also back the Undercover Child Abuse Online Network, which targets predators in the darkest corners of the internet and stops abuse before it happens. The network tracks and identifies offenders, intervenes early and drives arrests and prosecutions. Their work helped safeguard 1,748 children between April 2024 and 2025, with 1,797 arrests also made.

The funding sits alongside the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, which seeks to root out past failures wherever they occurred. It is laser‑focused on grooming gangs and will explicitly examine the role of ethnicity, religion and culture of the offenders and the response of institutions.

Last year, the police delivered record levels of enforcement – with 10,693 prosecutions and 8,681 convictions for child sexual offences. This investment increase means forces can take this vital work even further, reach more victims and stop more offenders in their tracks.

A further £8.9 million will go towards a key part of the NCA’s work targeting the highest-risk offenders like Jamie Beckett who was sentenced to 23 years after he sexually abused 7 vulnerable children by offering cash for medical appointments in exchange for indecent images.

NCA investigators were able to bring him to justice through an investigation which traced complex digital and financial trails. Increased NCA funding will enable even faster and stronger investigations to bring more high‑harm predators like Beckett to justice.

Adult survivors who, as children, experienced sexual abuse will also be supported through £3.2 million of funding to help rebuild their lives through the National Support for Adult Survivors.

The grooming gangs scandal is one of the darkest moments in this country’s history, where the most vulnerable were abused at the hands of evil child rapists and let down by a system meant to protect them.

That is why part of the Operation Beaconport funding will strengthen how police forces investigate these crimes, ensuring a consistent response wherever abuse is reported and better, trauma‑informed support for victims.

The remaining spend will be spread across a series of vital work through law enforcement and partner agencies to address child sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls.

Extracts from a longer press release at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-funding-to-tackle-grooming-gangs-and-child-sex-abuse

June 5, 2026

We’ve intercepted 70 million people attempting to access sexual images of children with online warnings – Lucy Faithful Foundation

What if every time someone tried to access sexual images of children on the internet, they encountered a message designed to stop them from doing so?

We’ve partnered with online tech companies such as Google, Mega, Meta, and TikTok to implement warning messages on the world’s largest online platforms. Today we’re proud to launch our Impact Report for Project Intercept, which showcases what we’ve achieved. Over the past two years, warning messages on online platforms have been triggered more than 70 million times by users seeking sexual images of children online – more than 95,000 per day.

Almost 700,000 people who triggered the warnings clicked through for help to change their behaviour

These are sobering figures. Yet, viewed through a preventative lens, it is a significant success story – 70 million attempts to cause harm have been intercepted, and each user has been offered support to change their behaviour through our Stop It Now website, self-help modules, and anonymous helpline. That offer has been taken up almost 700,000 times, and where it has been, there has been strong engagement with our online self-help resources.

The warnings are triggered when people use search terms that indicate they are looking for sexual images of children (known as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM), or click links that have previously been reported as containing sexual images of children. Each month, an average of 28,000 users are redirected to the Stop It Now self-help resources.

Prevention is possible, so let’s scale warning messages on every online platform

As tens of millions of people have been reached through just 22 active warning messages, it’s clear that the potential to scale up is enormous. By placing more warnings across more online spaces, we can disrupt online child sexual abuse at the moment it’s happening and prevent countless children from being harmed.

Ben* sought support from the Stop It Now self-help modules after his searches on a pornography website triggered a warning message. “After I got the warning, I had a look around on Stop It Now”, he says. “I found the modules on addiction and pornography very helpful. About two months ago I gave up adult sites. I want to keep my mind occupied and more productive.”

This has never been more urgent, particularly as new AI technologies accelerate the spread of online child sexual abuse. Through Stop It Now, we hear every day from people who are concerned about the direction of their online behaviour, but who struggle to change without support.

We’re urging tech companies to partner with us to implement warning messages

OpenAI, Meta, TikTok, Mega, Stability AI, Civitai, BT, MovieStarPlanet, Bing, Google, Aylo, and OnlyFans are among the tech companies who have deployed warning messages. Our 22 warnings have been triggered by people in 131 different countries, and they are active in a range of sectors including file-sharing, search, social media, dating, pornography platforms, and even end-to-end encrypted and AI chatbot spaces.

Our partners don’t simply block harmful content; they offer a clear pathway to support and behaviour change.

Join us at our impact webinar

On 3 June 2026 we’re hosting a lunchtime webinar with Google and our funder Nominet with a Q&A panel to explore the findings in the report and discuss the possibilities of warning messages for deterrence in more detail.

What began as a question – can we interrupt harmful behaviour at the point of risk? – has resulted in a growing body of evidence, partnerships and real-world implementation. Find out more about Project Intercept here and start the conversation at intercept@lucyfaithfull.org.uk

*name altered for anonymity.

Part of a longer press release at https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/weve-intercepted-70-million-people-attempting-to-access-sexual-images-of-children-with-online-warnings/

 

May 21, 2026

Maintenance is used as a weapon all of the time – Gingerbread

Gingerbread has  published a joint briefing exploring the experiences of victim-survivors of domestic abuse with the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Developed in collaboration with Surviving Economic Abuse, Women’s Aid, and victim-survivors, it highlights serious gaps in support and safeguarding.

What are our key findings?

For many victim-survivors of domestic abuse, the CMS is the only safe route to securing the financial support their children are entitled to. It is therefore essential that it provides a trauma-informed and safe service. However, victim-survivors tell us that the CMS is failing to meet their and their children’s needs.

Instead, they describe a service that is weaponised by perpetrators of abuse to continue coercive control and financial abuse post-separation. Our research finds persistent challenges with the service, including weak enforcement, payment loopholes, inadequate safeguards, poor specialist support, and a reliance on parents with care to report and investigate fraud and non-compliance.

These findings echo our Fix the CMS report, published in 2024, which showed that the CMS is failing to protect people who have experienced domestic abuse and, in some cases, is making the abuse worse.

The government has recognised misuse of child maintenance as a form of violence against women and girls (VAWG) within their VAWG strategy, and has announced welcome reforms to the CMS, including the removal of Direct Pay and a reduction of fees. However, the legislation for these reforms is not expected until 2027/28, despite the urgent need for change. Additionally, the government needs to go further to ensure the system meets the needs of victim-survivors of abuse.

What are our recommendations?

Our research found that victim-survivors want reforms to the CMS to include:

  • Urgently introducing legislation that will enable the government to safely transition service users from the Direct Pay service to Collect and Pay.
  • Providing specialist developed and delivered training and support for CMS staff to consistently identify and respond to domestic, including economic, abuse, with a particular focus on how the CMS is used to coerce and control victim survivors.
  • Improving safeguarding processes and procedures to help survivors safely engage with the CMS to manage their children’s entitlements. This includes basic procedures for alerting survivors to any changes or contact with a perpetrator that could increase their risk of harm, and ensuring access to specialist, trauma informed support.
  • Using stronger enforcement of non-payment and fraudulent non-disclosure of earnings responses, including improved automatic maintenance calculations based on cross-agency information sharing, proactive monitoring and investigations that do not place a disproportionate burden on victim-survivors to report or prove fraud, and a zero tolerance approach to non-compliance. The reforms should also close loopholes that allow abusers to misuse the enforcement process to evade accountability and urgently introduce secondary legislation to implement commitments made in the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023.
  • Removing barriers to the Collect and Pay service, by guaranteeing that victim-survivors can remain on Collect and Pay indefinitely to safely manage their children’s entitlements and waiving Collect and Pay fees for all parents, so that they are not financially penalised for relying on the CMS to safely manage their children’s support.

Vaila McClure, Head of Communications and External Affairs at Gingerbread, says:

“This research shows how the Child Maintenance Service is too often being used as a tool for ongoing abuse, rather than providing the safety and support families need.

Failures in safeguarding and enforcement are allowing perpetrators to continue to control and harm families long after relationships have ended, leaving children without the financial support they are entitled to.

Whilst the government has acknowledged the problem, recognition alone is not enough. Urgent reform is needed to protect children and the parents caring for them.”

Part of a longer press release at https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/our-work/news-and-views/maintenance-is-used-as-a-weapon-all-of-the-time-read-our-new-joint-briefing/

April 23, 2026