Family and Friends Forum

Welcome to the Family and Friends Forum.

Please read before accessing the forum.

This forum is a space for family members and friends of people who have been viewing sexual images of children or sexually communicating with a child online. Here you can seek support from others in similar situations, by anonymously sharing experiences, thoughts and knowledge.

If you have been affected by the online sexual offending of someone you know, it is important that you get the best support for you.

You might have a lot of questions about what is going to happen or what the future will look like. You might also be experiencing lots of difficult and confusing emotions, such as anger, sadness and betrayal, yet you might still care deeply for the person concerned.

We hope the forum can provide you with valuable support from people in a similar situation, answer your questions, and reduce anxieties and sense of isolation. Most importantly, we hope the forum reassures you that there is hope for the future. 

We know that some forum users may experience a lot of difficult and confusing feelings at the time they are accessing this forum. We would therefore like to remind our users that this forum serves as a platform for discussing topics that may be sensitive or triggering for some users. If you are struggling with your mental health, we recommend seeking support from a mental health professional or a trusted family member or friend before accessing the forum.

If you find yourself in crisis or require immediate support, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or the emergency services in your area.

This is an open forum and anyone can read posts. However, if you want to post a message – and we hope you do – you will need to register. New users’ first posts will not appear on the forum until they have been moderated. After that, new users’ posts will appear straight away. This helps us ensure that the forum is a safe and supportive environment for everyone. Please note that the moderators may keep users on moderation for longer in instances where there is not sufficient information in their first post to determine if the forum is suitable to them.

When you register to post on the forum you are required to provide us with your email address, therefore providing us with a degree of personal information. Please be aware that LFF may release personal information of members to the relevant authorities where we reasonably believe that a member has used the forum to commit unlawful acts or shared details of an identifiable offence which does not appear to be known to the authorities, where required to do so by law, or where LFF deems it appropriate. We know how distressing this is for the people involved, so please bear this in mind when posting on the forum.

If you are worried about the online sexual behaviour of an adult who has not been arrested and would like to talk about what you are going through, please contact our anonymous Stop It Now helpline to speak to one of our advisors. If you don’t feel ready or able to speak to someone, then you can use our live chat service or send a secure email.

Please read about how to use the forum and our forum agreement before registering to post a message.

If you need support, please contact our confidential Stop It Now helpline.

• Call 0808 1000 900: Monday to Thursday 9am to 9pm, Friday 9am to 5pm
• Visit stopitnow.org.uk/helpline to send us a secure message or use our live chat

You can also find more support and information on our website.