Help if you are worried about your sexual interest in children

This search engine does not help anyone find child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This is not aimed at you, and it does not mean that we know who you are.

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Why this page exists

Images of child sexual abuse record a real child being hurt, and keeping it or sharing it is illegal. That is why we do not return results for those searches.

We are a search engine, not a therapy service, and we cannot assess you. Two things are worth saying clearly: many people who are worried about their sexual interest in children have never harmed a child and want to keep it that way, and the help that reaches people is anonymous, free and does not judge them.

Using this page, or anything it links to, does not require your name, your email address or any payment details.

If you are searching for these words

Searching again and again for words like "pedophile" or "child abuse", or for material of that kind, can be a sign that something in your life needs attention. It does not mean you have done anything wrong. What helps is talking to someone who is used to this: a counsellor, a therapist, one of the links below or your own doctor.

You do not have to be sure of anything before you ask, and you do not have to explain it well. Saying that these thoughts worry you is enough to start.

If you are worried about the law

We cannot advise you on the law. Whether something is a crime, what happens if you report yourself, and what a court would do all depend on the law where you live, and only a lawyer can answer for your country. What we can say is that none of the services below is a reporting line: they are anonymous, they are not the police, and they do not pass on who you are. For legal advice, ask a lawyer; in many countries a duty lawyer or a legal advice service is free.

What can help

These services are run by independent organisations. They are not part of this search engine, and we receive nothing from them.

  • ReDirection self-help programme
    A free and anonymous programme for people who are worried about their sexual interest in children or about their use of child sexual abuse material. It is built on cognitive behavioural therapy and has five sections with exercises, with no registration and no personal details. It is published in nine languages, and there is a separate version for under-18s.
    Start the programme
    Open it through Tor instead
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    Under 18? Use the youth programme
  • Troubled Desire (Charité, Berlin)
    A free and anonymous service from the Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine at Charité in Berlin: a self-test, online self-help, and the option of talking to therapists. It is also reachable through Tor.
    Open Troubled Desire
  • Stop It Now helpline (United Kingdom)
    The Lucy Faithfull Foundation runs an anonymous helpline, email and chat for anyone worried about their own sexual thoughts or behaviour towards children, plus online self-help courses. In the UK this is the quickest way to talk to a person.
    Open Stop It Now
  • StopSO (United Kingdom)
    A UK charity whose therapists work with people worried about their own sexual thoughts or behaviour towards children, including those who have never acted on them. It provides therapy across the UK, and it also works with families and survivors.
    Open StopSO
  • Talking for Change (Canada)
    A free and anonymous helpline and chat service from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health with Public Safety Canada, for people who are troubled by their sexual interest in children. It is toll-free in Canada, offers free therapy in most provinces, and also supports people who are worried about someone they know.
    Open Talking for Change
  • Help Wanted (Johns Hopkins)
    A free online course of five short videos for people who are attracted to younger children, with practical tools for keeping children safe and a resources page for family and friends. It was developed at MOORE Preventing Child Sexual Abuse, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
    Start the course
  • ASAP, Association for Sexual Abuse Prevention (United States)
    A volunteer network that helps non-offending people with an attraction to children find a therapist. It runs an anonymous helpline on 567-772-ASAP and keeps a directory of therapists who work with this group.
    Open ASAP
  • Protect Children (Suojellaan Lapsia)
    The Finnish child protection organisation that created ReDirection. Its site explains the research behind the programme and what is known about the people who use child sexual abuse material.
    Open Protect Children
  • Answer the anonymous research survey
    The programme is developed together with the people who use it. The survey is anonymous, exists in more than twenty languages, and has no connection to any police or reporting system.
    Open the survey
  • If a child is in danger right now
    Contact the emergency number in your country, or a crisis line if you are afraid of what you might do. This page, and the services it links to, cannot answer an emergency.

If child sexual abuse material (CSAM) still appears in our results

Nothing described on this page is supposed to be in our results. If you find it there, send us a message and we will look at it. It goes through the same contact form as any other message, and you do not have to give your name. Tell us about it