Internet Watch Foundation

Research published today shows that 56% of IT Professionals who were targeted by the recent ‘Wipe it Out’ campaign, are now aware of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

 

This represents an increase of 35% on the initial survey last year, before the campaign was implemented.

 

 

 

The ‘Wipe it Out’ campaign was designed to measure and raise awareness of the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) 2003 and the role of the IWF.

 

 

 

 

This piece of legislation directly impacts how corporate organisations handle indecent images of children which may be found in the workplace.

   

The initial research in September 2004 showed very poor levels of awareness and understanding with 87% of IT Professionals not being aware of changes to the law.

 

Awareness of this law has improved by over 15% and over 65% of respondents said they had heard about the IWF through the campaign surveys, direct mail or relevant news items.

 

Nearly 100% of respondents said acting responsibly and in accordance with the law was part of their organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility. Nearly 90% said that addressing issues of indecent images of children in the work place was ‘Very important’.

 

67% of respondents are now aware of the implications of improper handling of indecent images of children, a 10% increase on last year.

 

For the campaign, the Internet Watch Foundation distributed specifically designed materials and a ‘Best Practice’ guide to over 3,000 IT managers in England and Wales.

 

In June the IWF also hosted a ‘Wipe it Out’ conference in central London which addressed the practical, legal, ethical and corporate social responsibility issues around this topic.

 

The event included an opening address from Home Office Minister Paul Goggins, who has responsibility for internet crime & child pornography and a presentation from Jim Gamble, Deputy Director General, National Crime Squad & Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Lead for Combating Child Abuse Images on the Internet.

 

There still seems to be some confusion around the age of a ‘child’ in the context of potentially illegal images. Although 83% said they believed they understood what constituted a potentially illegal image of a child, only 21% were able to give the correct age of under 18 years.

 

Peter Robbins, IWF, CEO:

“We are very pleased to see such increased levels of awareness of the IWF and the work we do. IT Managers and CEO’s should feel reassured this legislation is in place to help them operate within the law, protect their employees and company and help to minimise criminal activities such as viewing and distributing these illegal images.

 

It is very apparent that Corporate Social Responsibility is a key factor for companies now and this is a very serious issue, so there is really is no excuse for employers not to have a policy in place which directly addresses the issue of potentially illegal child abuse images in the workplace.” 

For more information on the Sexual Offences Act, how it affects organisations and the 'Wipe it Out' campaign, please click here.