Campaigning and policy change

cease in westminster.

CEASE campaigns for laws and policies that prevent sexual exploitation and hold the industries profiting from it to account. We work with MPs, peers, officials, regulators and partner organisations to turn evidence and analysis into practical change.We respond to opportunities already moving through Parliament and government, and develop new proposals where existing policy falls short.

We don't just raise awareness, we act
01

What we actually do in Westminster.

01
We run focused campaigns

We identify opportunities to change law and policy, then build focused campaigns around them.

02
We shape legislation already moving

When a Bill, review or consultation touches our issues, we work to strengthen it and ensure overlooked harms are addressed.

03
We propose new reforms

Where the existing political agenda falls short, we develop practical proposals and build support for change.

04
We brief decision-makers

We build relationships with MPs, peers, officials and regulators, helping them understand the evidence and the wider realities of sexual exploitation.

05
We submit evidence and analysis

We respond to consultations and calls for evidence, bringing together relevant research, lived experience and CEASE’s analysis.

06
We build coalitions and public support

We bring organisations and individuals together, amplify good work already under way and build the wider support needed for lasting change.

What we are asking for
02

Our Current priorities.

01 Deliver promised pornography reforms ReadClose

Implement agreed reforms to pornography law and regulation, including age and ongoing consent checks for people featured in pornography and consistent standards online and offline.

The Review found policy fragmented across six government departments and multiple regulators, with no single body taking responsibility, and it made 32 recommendations. Government has accepted the principle of consistent regulation online and offline, but on our count 19 of those recommendations including a single enforcement body and a duty on platforms to prevent illegal content being uploaded at all, remain outstanding (CEASE analysis, September 2026).

The evidence has been gathered and accepted. What is left is implementation.

Implementation stage is where we're currently stuck
The review, counted
32 recommendations made
13 implemented so far
19 still outstanding
6 departments, none accountable
Independent Pornography Review · CEASE analysis, September 2026

Make age assurance, platform duties and device-level protections work in practice, and restrict commercial platforms’ access to children.

This is not a ban on children, and no child or parent would face any penalty. It is a limit on Big Tech's access to children. Platforms built around livestreaming, disappearing content and contact with strangers have had their chance to make those features safe.

The price of access to children should be safety by design, and it should be set by Parliament rather than by the platforms themselves.

If a building is structurally unsafe, we do not wait for someone to be injured before restricting access. We keep people out while it is repaired.

Safety by design, set in Parliament, not in a product meeting.
What we are asking for
16 minimum age for platforms built on addictive design
18 minimum age for AI companion chatbots
0 penalties for any child or parent
9/10 parents in support
DSIT consultation response, June 2026

Prevent third-party websites from advertising, facilitating and profiting from the prostitution of others.

Tobacco, gambling and alcohol are all held to standards of transparency, advertising restraint and public health accountability. The commercial sex industry is not.

That exemption is not a law of nature. It is a policy choice, and it can be reversed.

Same harm, same duties. No exemptions.
Held to standards
Tobacco
Advertising ban, plain packaging, health duties
Gambling
Licensing, advertising rules, statutory levy
Alcohol
Licensing, labelling, minimum unit pricing
Commercial sex
None of the above

Tackle the demand that drives prostitution by criminalising sex buying and providing properly resourced routes out.

We support the Nordic Model, which targets the purchase of sex rather than criminalising the people being sold. We state that plainly because we would rather be argued with than assumed about.

Reduce the demand and the market shrinks with it.
The Nordic Model, in three lines
Buying sex
A criminal offence
Selling sex
Not an offence — no criminal record
Exit and support
Funded, and available on request

Develop a joined-up approach that reflects the industry’s effects on public health, violence against women and girls, children, relationships and wider culture.

One principle, applied consistently.
Already true in UK law
Serious bodily harm
Cannot be consented to
Prize-fighting
Prohibited regardless of agreement
Sale of organs
Prohibited regardless of agreement
Commercial sex
Treated as the one exception
Contact our policy team For CEASE briefings, evidence and analysis relating to our current priority areas.
What we have changed
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The record of our wins in parliament.

Briefings and submissions
04

our publications and reports.

We work in coalition
05

The Pornography Harms Coalition.

Lasting political change rarely comes from one organisation acting alone. CEASE works with charities, specialists, survivors and other organisations to build support around shared policy goals.

About the Coalition
15
member organisations, spanning child protection, sexual violence services, safeguarding, education and clinical research.
One circle = one organisation
Who leads this work
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Lauren Agnew.

Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Lauren is our Head of Policy and Public Affairs. she leads CEASE’s relationships with parliamentarians, officials, regulators and partner organisations.

For parliamentary or policy enquiries, contact Lauren at lauren.agnew@cease.org.uk

Contact Lauren

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