Perpetrator-focused prevention of sexual child abuse and the use of abuse images
among affected individuals in India through a chat service.
Thank you for your interest in participating in our chat study as part of the PATH India project!
You can use this service to chat with one of our therapists in real-time, anonymously, and for free.
No personal information such as name, IP address, phone number, or image or audio material is
collected. We use the online self-help and research platform Troubled Desire to make these
interactions possible. We are a research team at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, which also
includes our therapists in India. Please take a moment to read the following information carefully.
We offer an anonymous, confidential, and free chat intervention for people who are at risk of
viewing sexual material involving children and adolescents or are worried about it (abbreviated
'CSAM'). The therapeutic intervention follows a resource-oriented approach based on the
experiences of the prevention network 'Kein Täter werden.' The sessions are conducted via text
messages. We want to see if this chat intervention can have a positive effect on reducing the use
of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and improving the mental well-being of our participants.
In addition, as researchers, we want to learn more about the factors that increase our participants'
risk of using abusive images and their behavior when seeking help. The main goal of our study is
to prevent the spread of CSAM and to develop effective, tailored support services for people with
sexual interest in children that meet the participants' needs.
The study includes a chat intervention that is accessible through our self-help and study platform
"Troubled Desire." Both the therapists and the participants remain anonymous throughout the
entire process. Logging into the chat platform works exclusively with a randomly generated
session ID. This consists of letters and numbers and functions as a PIN for logging in. No data that
could be used for identification is collected, meaning we do not gather names, addresses, places of
residence, phone numbers, IP addresses, image recordings (e.g., of the face), or voice recordings.
All communication within the study takes place via the Troubled Desire platform, which can be
accessed using your own session ID. This is also where appointments are scheduled and chats with
the therapist are conducted in writing. Troubled Desire is stored on secure servers at Charité –
Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Both parties are strongly advised not to share personal information at
any time during their collaboration (you can find instructions on how to effectively protect your
identity on our website). After interested parties give their consent to participate, a short initial
questionnaire follows to determine if they can take part. After logging in with their personal session
ID, participants schedule appointments with their therapist. A chat session lasts exactly 50 minutes
and takes place exclusively through the platform at the previously agreed times. Over a period of
4 weeks, there are a total of 4 appointments, and if needed, 2 more sessions can be scheduled.
These can be suggested by the therapists. During this time and in the following 4, 8, and 12 weeks,
study participants will regularly be asked to answer some questions in their personal login area.
These questions collect demographic information, CSAM behavior, their sexual interests and
attitudes, their beliefs, experiences and overall mood, as well as questions about the treatment itself.
All questions are answered anonymously.
The study is being conducted by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (CUB) in Germany. All data
is stored on CUB’s secure servers without any personal identifiers.
Participation in the study is completely voluntary. Before you answer any of our questions, you
will be presented with a consent form. Since we ask you not to use your name at any point during
the process, signing is not possible; instead, we ask you to check the box on Troubled Desire to
indicate your consent. You can withdraw your consent to participate at any time through the chat
section of Troubled Desire, without having any consequences for the duration of the study. If you
decide not to participate in the study, you can do so without giving any reason and withdrawing
any information you’ve provided if you wish. You have the right not to answer questions asked
during the conversation or to provide only as much information as you’re comfortable with. You
will be reminded repeatedly to remain anonymous and not to share personal information when
answering questions, communicating in the message center, or during your chat appointments with
your therapists.
Your contribution can help us evaluate and improve the intervention we are developing. You will
be supported by our therapists to achieve well-being and healthy sexual behavior. In addition, this
intervention can be used to help others get the support they need in a free, anonymous, and
judgment-free virtual environment. Your participation can help prevent the sexual exploitation of
children and curb the spread of CSAM. Participating in the study involves no physical risks.
However, you may feel uncomfortable with certain topics.
There is no payment for participating in the study.
The chat intervention requires access to an electronic device (e.g., computer, tablet, or smartphone)
that has a web browser application (e.g., Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, Edge, Tor browser, or
similar) and is connected to the internet at a specific agreed-upon time for both the therapist and
the participant. All data is end-to-end encrypted. The chat conversations are conducted exclusively
in text form. The chat transcripts are stored in a secure database on a server at Charité and are used
for the research purposes mentioned above. The collected data is anonymized, and all potentially
identifying personal information is removed before further processing. The transcripts and
translations are stored for ten years on a password-protected drive with additional access
restrictions. All collected data, including the questionnaires, are stored separately. This ensures
your anonymity regarding the research results. Data processing is carried out in accordance with
applicable data protection laws, especially the European General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR), the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), and the Berlin Data Protection Act (BlnDSG).
Your data will be treated strictly confidentially. Your data will be collected anonymously and
stored securely. The results of the study will only be published for scientific purposes. No
information will be published that allows conclusions about your identity. All people who have
access to your documents are required to treat them confidentially and comply with the applicable
data protection regulations.
You can request the deletion of your session ID and chat history at any time. You can decide to
take part in the research study and have your responses used for the research project until your
answers have been processed anonymously. After that, a targeted deletion of your responses is no
longer possible, because they can no longer be linked to any person.
Institute for Sexual Science and Sexual Medicine
Director Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Klaus M. Beier
Charitéplatz 1
10117 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 450 529 302
Email: klaus.beier@charite.de
____________________________________________
After the admission assessment and meeting the initial inclusion and exclusion criteria, you will
be asked if you are located in India. If you answer "Yes," the following information will be
displayed:
We ask that you only continue if you reside in India so that we can collect the appropriate research
data.
You can also get in touch with the research team at the Institute for Sexual Science and Sexual
Medicine (IfSS), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany at path-india@charite.de
Thank you for considering participating in this study.