Mental Health and Wellbeing

SAFER-TECH

Over the past decade, offences involving the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and young people via internet technologies have increased exponentially. As a result, victim-survivors often experience significant and wide-ranging mental health difficulties (e.g., depression, anxiety, self-harming behaviour, suicidality, PTSD), highlighting the importance of appropriate support following victimisation to facilitate healing. Support networks, practitioners and professional services play a central role in this process, and are uniquely positioned to support victim-survivors, and thereby prevent further harm and suffering. 

This project aims to develop a Survivor-Aligned Framework for Effective Responses to TECHnology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse (SAFER-TECH) in recognition of the growing complexity around technology-assisted child sexual abuse (TA-CSA), and the fragmented responses victim-survivors experience and encounter across society and systems. The framework is designed to provide a coherent and trauma-informed structure for anyone working in law enforcement, social care and health, education, and criminal justice, that aligns with victim-survivors’ needs, and ensures that their safety, recovery and voices are placed at the heart of practice.

The project will be delivered through three work packages:

  1. A national, population-based online survey to establish the nature, prevalence, impact and associated mental health outcomes of TA-CSA.
  2. Qualitative interviews with victim-survivors, members of their support networks, and professionals who have supported and/or worked with them.
  3. Co-production workshops with victim-survivors, practitioners, key stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers, to collaboratively develop SAFER-TECH.

The resulting framework will translate generated evidence into best-practice recommendations to improve responses to victim-survivors, support approaches to working with them, strengthen inter-agency coordination and collaboration, and enhance overall outcomes for children and young people who have experienced TA-CSA.

The project is funded by Safe Online.

 SAFER-TECH logo with text Survivor Aligned Framework for Effective Responses to Technology Assisted Child Sexual Abuse

 

 

Staff

  • Dr Juliane Kloess – Senior Lecturer in Forensic Clinical Psychology & Principal Investigator, University of Glasgow
  • Dr Alexandra Tsirimokou – HCPC-registered Clinical and Forensic Psychologist & Research Associate, University of Glasgow
  • Professor Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis – HCPC-registered Forensic and Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Forensic and Clinical Psychology & Co-Investigator, University of Bath

Partners