Stop it Now

What Stop it Now does

Stop it Now, operating under the new name Preventielijn since January 2026, is a Dutch non-profit anonymous helpline service founded in 2012 as a joint initiative between Offlimits (formerly EOKM, now Expertisecentrum Online Misbruik) and the forensic clinic de Waag. The organization provides free, confidential telephone and chat support to individuals concerned about their sexual feelings or behavior toward minors, as well as to relatives, partners, and professionals affected by these issues. Services are available without appointment and without caller ID or IP tracking, operating weekdays 09:00-22:00 and weekends 09:30-18:00 via the number 0800 266 64 36 and an online chat portal.

The service model is built on a small team of approximately five specialized counselors with backgrounds in forensic-sensitive support, suicide-risk assessment, and clinical referral. The helpline serves as the front end of a two-tiered prevention pipeline: callers can be anonymously referred to de Waag for forensic intake and treatment, or guided toward self-help modules such as 'Stoppen is Mogelijk'. A youth-focused portal, okenietoke.nl, was launched in 2026 to extend the service to minors. Research collaborations with Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and Tilburg University support evidence generation on warning-message interventions and online behavior.

Stop it Now / Preventielijn operates as a public-benefit program under Offlimits' ANBI status, with no commercial revenue model. All services are free to end users, and funding flows through Offlimits' organizational budget and charitable channels. There are no venture capital, private equity, or public-market investors. The core technology is a telephone and chat infrastructure with no disclosed proprietary software, AI capabilities, or data monetization. Competitive positioning rests on specialized expertise, anonymity guarantees, the institutional referral pathway to de Waag, and integration into a broader ecosystem of peer support forums, professional toolkits, and academic research partnerships.

Name

Stop it Now

Legal name

Offlimits - Expertisecentrum Online Misbruik

Website

https://stopitnow.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stop it Now (now Preventielijn) is a Dutch non-profit anonymous helpline offering free telephone and chat support to individuals concerned about sexual feelings or behavior toward minors, along with relatives and professionals, operated by Offlimits since 2012.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Safety & Exploitation Prevention Operations (CSAM detection workflows, escalation) (BPAAALAK)

Keywords

• Child sexual abuse prevention
• Anonymous helpline services
• Sexual behavior support
• Minor attraction intervention
• Victim prevention counseling

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Free Helpline Services: The prevention line provides completely free telephone and chat services to all users. No fees are charged for phone calls (number does not appear on phone bills) or chat sessions. The service is funded through organizational support from Offlimits and partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Stop it Now (now Preventielijn) operates a free, anonymous telephone and online chat helpline for individuals in the Netherlands who are concerned about their sexual feelings or behavior toward minors, as well as for relatives and professionals encountering such situations. The service offers non-judgmental listening, risk assessment, referral to specialized treatment (notably forensic clinic de Waag), self-help resources, and peer support, with strict confidentiality safeguards including no caller ID and no IP tracking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Anonymous Telephone Helpline
• Online Anonymous Chat Service
• okenietoke.nl Youth Portal

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• de Waag (Forensic Clinic)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012De Waag is the forensic clinic that co-founded Stop it Now in 2012. They continue to work intensively together, with the prevention line referring callers to de Waag for anonymous intake calls and treatment. The Waag provides specialized forensic treatment for individuals seeking to change their behavior.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Darkness to Light: Large US nonprofit focused on child sexual abuse prevention, primarily through adult education, training, and awareness rather than direct caller support. Comparable overarching mission (prevention of child sexual abuse) but addresses a different part of the prevention chain.
• Internet Watch Foundation: UK-based organization running the reporting hotline for child sexual abuse material found online, with policy and industry-facing roles. Adjacent rather than directly comparable, but addresses the same underlying CSAM challenge from the reporting/industry side rather than the caller-support side.

Regional players

• Stop it Now Belgium (Child Focus / 1712): Belgian helpline (1712) operated by Child Focus providing confidential support on abuse and violence, including concerns about sexual behaviour toward children. Comparable purpose and primary user profile, but embedded in a broader general-purpose abuse helpline rather than a CSAM-prevention specialist.

Emerging players

• Marie Vincent (Prévenir): Canadian nonprofit offering specialized prevention and intervention services for people who have committed or are at risk of committing sexual offences against children, including clinical treatment. Comparable mission with stronger clinical treatment emphasis and broader service portfolio than Stop it Now.
• B4U-ACT: US-based nonprofit focused on prevention and support for adults attracted to minors or to age-inappropriate partners, with an emphasis on advocacy and peer connection rather than clinical treatment. Comparable primary user segment but lighter on the helpline infrastructure that Stop it Now operates.

Direct peers

• Lucy Faithfull Foundation (Stop It Now UK & Ireland): UK-based charity operating the Stop It Now! UK & Ireland helpline offering confidential support to people concerned about their own sexual thoughts/behaviour toward children and to relatives and professionals. Directly comparable operating model, mission, and target audience to Stop it Now / Preventielijn.
• ReDirection (Canada): Canadian federally funded helpline and online service supporting people with sexual thoughts toward children and concerned others. Closely comparable confidential online/phone support model and primary-user profile to Stop it Now.
• Projekt Kein Täter Werden (Don't Offend Germany): German/DACH prevention network offering confidential treatment to people attracted to minors, originated as a research project at the Charité in Berlin. Directly comparable as a prevention-and-treatment service for people with sexual attraction to children, with a clinical/research operating model analogous to Stop it Now + de Waag.

Others

• Forensische Polikliniek de Waag: Dutch forensic outpatient clinic that co-founded Stop it Now in 2012 and continues to receive referrals from the prevention line for specialized treatment of problematic sexual behaviour. Included as the partner organization that closes the treatment referral loop, not as a competitor.
• Offlimits (Expertisecentrum Online Misbruik): Parent Dutch organization that operates Stop it Now / Preventielijn and runs related online child-abuse prevention and reporting programs. Included because it is the umbrella entity that houses the helpline and shapes its strategic direction.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stopitnownl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stop it Now