Our CEO, Mary Sharpe, was invited on the Rachel Johnson’s show on LBC on Sunday evening 7 April 2024 to discuss the Westminster honeytrap scandal about William Wragg MP revealed in The Times. He’d sent “dick pics” to a seductive stranger who’d contacted him via gay and bisexual dating app Grindr then proceeded to give that stranger the phone numbers of other parliamentarians. What could have made a person, let a long a MP, do such a thing, Rachel Johnston asked?
Mary Sharpe returned to LBC on 11 March 2023 for the Natasha Devon programme. They discussed the findings of charity Dignify’s survey of over 4,000 pupils age 14-18 on their porn use as reported in The Guardian. One in ten pupils believed they were addicted to porn.
Here is an interview with our CEO Mary Sharpe and LBC’s Clare Foges on 5 February 2023 as they talk about what parents need to do to deal with the challenging issues around access to unlimited amounts of hardcore pornography. In particular, they discussed the need for parents to educate themselves about how to look for effects on a child’s brain and behaviour. Clare Foges thinks parents should delay giving the child a phone for as long as possible. Mary also recommended our free parents’ guide to internet pornography with lots of helpful resources. See too our seven free lesson plans for schools to deal with sexting and the risks around porn use
For the Clare Foges’ full programme discussion with members of the public calling in listen here. Mary’s is on from 2.56 to 9.36.
When the UK Government announced they had changed tack on the Online Safety Bill to include age verification, Mary Sharpe was invited to join Shelagh Fogarty on LBC in London. This was on 8 February 2022.
The recording begins with Shelagh giving an overview, then at 0.51 LBC reporter Charlotte Lynch begins a background report on the passage of the legislation. It is now expected to cover both commercial pornography sites and websites with user-generated content such as Only Fans. Mary joins the conversation at 5.05, explaining why the changes are so needed.
Mary Sharpe was interviewed by Stig Abell in this 3-minute spot on LBC Radio in London, 21 August 2016. It went UK wide.
Mary Sharpe was invited to join Sarah Brett on Radio 5 live to discuss the recent dramatic rise in the number of young people needing sex therapy treatment on the NHS. In this discussion on 7 October 2019 we learn that demand by under 19’s for sexual therapy treatment rose three-fold in only a couple of years. In the period 2015 to 2017 there were 1,400 NHS referrals for young people to sexual therapists. In the next period from 2017 to 2019 this has grown to about 4,600. Hear Mary’s thoughts on the role of pornography use in driving this change.
PM is the flagship news and current affairs programme on Radio 4, broadcast in the UK, and indeed around the whole world. On Monday 1st April 2019 Evan Davis introduced a 6-minute segment by journalist Chris Vallance on the UK’s Age Verification system to reduce children’s easy access to hardcore online pornography. Mary Sharpe, CEO of TRF, says why this legislation is still important, even if not perfect.
BBC Radio Scotland is our local network. TRF have appeared on several shows and you can always search for us on BBC Sounds.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com had one of its ads banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for using the slogan “send nudes” to promote skin-coloured clothing. Mary Sharpe joined Jess McBeath and other commentators on the Kaye Adams show on 17 October 2019 looking at the wisdom of the judgement from a child-protection point of view.
What are the impacts of teen sexting? Mary Sharpe appeared on Good Morning Scotland on 3 September 2019 along with Rape Crisis Scotland. Read more about sexting and the law in Scotland here.
With the announcement of the launch date for Age Verification in the UK, Mary Sharpe joined an hour-long phone-in with Laura Maxwell on 18 April 2019. The following 6-minute extract features her thoughts in the final part of the programme.
Talking to young people about porn was the theme for a debate hosted by Kaye Adams on 20 March 2019. Mary Sharpe was featured along with Sarah, one of the mums from the Channel 4 docu-series “Mums Make Porn”, Andrea Chapman a counsellor and pro-porn activist Jerry Barnett.
Hear Mary Sharpe talking about consent and pornography in a short segment on the Stephen Jardine show on 15 February 2019.
John Beattie held a spirited discussion on pornography use on 20 November 2018. The guests were Mary Sharpe, Anne Chilton from Relationships Scotland and Emma Kenny.
Stephen Jardine interviewed Mary Sharpe, along with a teacher and a concerned mother on the Radio Scotland mid-morning programme on 17 July 2018.
Mary Sharpe was interviewed by Ian McNally from Radio Napier in a 10-minute slot on Digital Drugs. Published online on 27 October 2017.
Mary Sharpe discussing porn awareness training in an 18-minute conversation with Stephen Nolan on Radio Ulster in Northern Ireland.
Click here if you want to hear more of the related conversations on Stephen Nolan’s television programmes.