Home Secretary’s Foreword

The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP

Home Secretary

“The scale and severity of online child sexual abuse is a concern for governments around the world, and the effects of the pandemic have only heightened those concerns.

Since becoming Home Secretary, I have heard from victims and survivors of child sexual abuse who have bravely shared their experiences.

I am determined that we learn from the past and tackle this horrific abuse in all its forms through our first-of-its-kind Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.

The Internet Watch Foundation plays a crucial role in delivering that change online. Their vital work in identifying and removing this horrendous material from the web helps to safeguard children from abuse, protects victims from the trauma of the images of their suffering continuing to circulate and prevents offenders from accessing illegal material.

It is essential that tech companies and lawmakers alike do not turn a blind eye to the problem and do everything they can, so this appalling content does not remain online.

I welcome the Internet Watch Foundation’s continued work on this issue and together we can continue to build towards making the UK the safest place in the world to be online.”