News

The Marie Collins Foundation has partnered with Dr Roxanne Bibizadeh and Professor Rob Procter at the University of Warwick on the ESRC IAA funded 'Digitally Empowering Young People' project which set out to understand what provisions exist to support children and young people’s digital lives, the current risks and opportunities online, and strengths and limitations of the online safety education within home and school.

Our Head of Advocacy Rhiannon-Faye McDonald, and Victim and Survivor Advocate Megan Hinton, contributed to a new ground-breaking podcast series “Digitally Empowering Young People: The Podcast”. The series aims to raise awareness and spark vital conversations among educators, parents/carers, law enforcement agencies and professionals working with young people. Each episode features a distinguished expert voice, offering invaluable insights and perspectives on this critical issue. The final episode is created especially for young people, providing them with essential information and resources to navigate the digital landscape safely and responsibly.

In episode two, we delve into the pressing issue of technology-assisted child sexual abuse material, focusing particularly on the misleading term “self-generated”, which problematically places the blame on the victim.  Rhiannon-Faye and Megan provide insight from the perspective of victims and survivors and discuss long-term impacts of abuse, disclosure barriers and the need for a consistent cross sector approach to prevention and recovery. Both Rhiannon-Faye and Megan also feature in the project’s Expert Voices videos along with Lizzie Reeves, Natalie Foos, Emma Hardy, Adrienne Katz, and other sector experts. 

For more information about this project and to stay updated on latest initiatives, please visit the Digitally Empowering Young People website here.