Elsa, tell us a little about what made you decide to found the organization Porrfri Barndom?
My blindfold went up with a bang when I realized that online porn is as accessible as the Children's Channel and that the content is as violent as it is today on the most popular porn hubs. We are often contacted by both parents and children who tell us that their children have already been exposed in primary school and that they often feel bad about the violence they have seen. It was also clear that Sweden is many years behind our time in terms of porn prevention for children - we wanted to change that!
Porrfri Barndom's work is based on research, clinical experience and knowledge from experts and researchers. The organization collaborates with several experts in the fields of healthcare, preschool and school, digitalization and technology, some of whom are members of the organization's Advisory Board. Together with experts and the Advisory Board, Porn-Free Childhood is a preventive force, with combined knowledge and experience from a wide range of professional areas that contribute to a necessary driving force in society.
What are the biggest obstacles you see to achieving your vision that all children should grow up in an existence free from online pornography and have the opportunity to develop their own sexuality without the influence of the porn industry?
Firstly, most telecom and internet operators in Sweden do not offer so-called porn filters free of charge to their customers, so that all families with children can afford them, and secondly, they often have very little information about the existence of child protection, how to install it and why it is important. Operators who have direct contact with virtually all parents in Sweden could, with a single push SMS, send out direct links asking both whether they want to activate porn filters and how to take age-appropriate calls with children. Another major obstacle is that the Swedish National Agency for Education recently excluded pornography criticism from the school's new sex education program - even though the government's mission was literally to include pornography criticism.
How do you measure success and see concrete results in your activities and how can we as parents contribute to achieving your vision?
There are many ways to measure the process. For example, we conducted a survey of all municipalities in Sweden to find out how many have started porn prevention in activities for children, it showed that we are up to over 70% compared to less than 50% when we started the organization three years ago. We can also follow the development among operators, which ones are starting to offer free porn filters and information to parents. It can also be seen that there has been a sharp increase in the number of individual parliamentary motions for porn prevention since we started, which moves the process forward in terms of bringing the issue up on the agenda in parliament, but these are almost always rejected, so a bill is needed for there to be a real effect for the children. But not least, it is both measurable and clear in traditional and social media that we have put children's exposure to porn on the agenda. Let's continue this work and get more people involved!