Thousands of people in the Liverpool City Region sought expert help to stop looking at vile images of children being sexually abused or raped last year.
Data from Stop it Now!, a confidential charity run helpline listening to the darkest secrets of people concerned about their own or a family member's thoughts or behaviour towards children, paints a worrying picture and has led for an awareness campaign alongside police forces across the North West.
In Merseyside alone, 2,954 people contacted the helpline for advice in 2021/22, while in Cheshire there were 6,658 calls and 1,500 in Lancashire. Stop It Now!, warned that "heavy porn habits" are given as a reason by male callers as a "common pathway" into viewing sexual images of children online.
