Conferences and Events

The Reward Foundation helps raise awareness of the key research developments in sex and love relationships and the problems introduced by internet pornography. We do this by participating in conferences and events, by teaching and by contributing to government and industry consultations. This page is updated with news of where you can see and hear The Reward Foundation.

Here are some of our contributions…

TRF in 2020

8 February 2020. Mary Sharpe presented a session on Porn, Brain and Harmful Sexual Behaviour at the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity conference in London.

18 June 2020. Mary Sharpe presented Non-technical strategies for protecting children from pornography: Working with professionals at the Age Verification Virtual Conference.

23 July 2020. CESE Global Summit where Darryl Mead spoke on A roadmap for future research into Problematic Pornography Use.

27 July 2020. CESE Global Summit panel discussion on Taking on Big Porn: Exposing the Abuse, Sex Trafficking, and Harms. Mary Sharpe spoke alongside Laila Mickelwait from Exodus Cry and Rachael Denhollander, an attorney, educator and author.

28 July 2020. CESE Global Summit where Mary Sharpe spoke on Internet Pornography and users with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Special Learning Needs.

12 November 2020. Zoom discussion. In conversation with Mary Sharpe, The Reward Foundation and Farrer & Co LLP, London. The talk was invited to cover the link between pornography use and safeguarding of children and young people.

TRF in 2019

18 June 2019. Darryl Mead and Mary Sharpe presented the paper Aligning the “Manifesto for a European research network into Problematic Usage of the Internet” with the diverse needs of the professional and consumer communities affected by problematic use of pornography. This was at the International Conference on Behavioural Addictions in Yokohama, Japan. We also presented a paper onThe challenges of teaching school pupils about the research on behavioural addictions.

5 October 2019. Darryl Mead and Mary Sharpe moderated a discussion on New research into internet pornography as an emerging behavioural addiction at the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health Conference in St Louis, USA.

TRF in 2018

7 March 2018. Mary Sharpe presented on The impact of internet pornography on the adolescent brain at Grey cells and prison cells: Meeting the neurodevelopmental and cognitive needs of vulnerable young people.  The event was produced by the Centre for Youth and Community Justice at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

5 and 6 April 2018. At the 2018 End Sexual Exploitation Global Summit in Virginia, USA, Darryl Mead gave an update on Pornography issues in the UK and Mary Sharpe led the Public Health & Research Task Force Meeting attended by more than 80 delegates from around the world.

24 April 2018. TRF delivered  a joint paper on Communicating the Science of Cybersex Addiction to Wider Audiences at the 5th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions in Cologne, Germany.

7 June 2018. Mary Sharpe delivered a public lecture on Internet Pornography and the Adolescent Brain at Lucy Cavendish College at the University of Cambridge.

3 July 2018. Mary Sharpe delivered a presentation on pornography at a conference in London on Denormalising Sexual Violence and Harassment between Children in Schools: Formulating a Coherent Multi-Agency Response.

5 October 2018.  TRF presented the paper “Facilitating healthy sexual development in teens”at the Society for the Advancement of  Sexual Health Conference in Virginia Beach, USA.

TRF in 2017

20 to 22 February 2017. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead attended the 4th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions at Haifa in Israel. Our report on the papers at this conference was published in the journal Sexual Aggression and Compulsivity.

2 March 2017. TRF Board member Anne Darling presented three sessions of TRF material to the Perth Theatre programme, reaching a combined audience of 650 people.

19 September 2017. Mary Sharpe presented a talk to senior pupils and parents called Why care about Internet porn for the Festival of Ideas at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh.

7 October 2017. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead presented Internet Pornography; What Parents, Teachers & Healthcare Professionals need to know at the Community Day of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health conference in Salt Lake City, USA.

13 October 2017. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead presented The impact of internet pornography on the mental and physical health of adolescents to the Edinburgh Medico-chirurgical Society.

21 October 2017. The Reward Foundation presented two lectures and a workshop in internet pornography at the Third International Conference on the Family in Zagreb, Croatia.

16 November 2017. TRF led an evening seminar in Edinburgh on Porn Kills Love. The Impact of Internet Pornography on the Adolescent Brain.

TRF in 2016

18 and 19 April 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead presented the workshop “An Integrated Approach to Internet Pornography and its Impact” at the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) Scotland conference in Stirling.

28 April 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead presented a paper “Internet pornography and the adolescent brain” at the onlinePROTECT Conference in London “It’s just online, isn’t it?”: Young people and the internet – from sexual exploration to challenging sexual behaviours. . Mary Sharpe’s take-home video message from the Conference is here.

4 May 2016. We presented two papers at the Third International Congress of Technology Addiction, in Istanbul, Turkey. Mary Sharpe spoke on “Strategies to prevent Internet Porn Addiction” and Darryl Mead talked about “The Risks Young People Face as Porn Consumers”.  A longer version of Darryl’s talk was later published in the peer-review journal Addicta, available here.

17-19 June 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead presented a paper titled “How to change Internet Pornography Viewers into Informed Consumers” at the DGSS Conference on Social Scientific Sexuality Research, “Sex as Commodity” in Munich, Germany.

7 September 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead delivered a paper on “Using a social enterprise to expose internet pornography as a public health issue” at the International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC 2016) Conference in Glasgow. A news story on this conference is here. Our presentation is available on the ISIRC website.

23 September 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead presented a workshop on “The disintegrating effect of internet pornography” at the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health Conference in Austin, Texas. A news story on this appears here. An audio recording of the presentation is available for downloading from the SASH website for a charge of US$10.00. It is Number 34 on the order form.

29 September 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead delivered a paper on “Internet Pornography and Sexual Violence among Adolescents: a Review of Recent International Research” at the NOTA International Conference in Brighton. See NOTA for details of the conference. Our report on the conference is here.

25 October 2016. Mary Sharpe presented “Internet porn and the adolescent brain” at Online safety for children and young people in Edinburgh put on by Holyrood Events. Click here for our report.

29 November 2016. Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead spoke at “Sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools”, an event put on in Edinburgh by Policy Hub Scotland.  Our report on the event is here.