Mental Health and Wellbeing

SAFER-TECH

We are now live!

We are currently recruiting participants for an anonymous UK-wide online survey exploring the prevalence, nature, and impact of negative experiences online.

Anyone aged 16 years or over and living in the UK is eligible to take part. Importantly, you do not have to have had negative experiences online in order to participate.

The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Take part in the survey

About 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.