Child Sexual Abuse
Research indicates that 1 in 20 children will have suffered sexual abuse. This form of abuse remains underreported and an area that practitioners can lack confidence and guidance required to respond to indicators of child sexual abuse and intervene effectively to help and protect children.
The national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel have published their National Review on Child Sexual Abuse within the Family Environment. This review evidences significant and long-standing systemic issues in the response to child sexual abuse in the family environment and sets out a number of findings. A Practitioner Briefing sets out the key learning points.
The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse is government funded body whose focus is to support professionals to improve identification and response to child sexual abuse and have published research and guidance to support practitioners.
Their CSA Pathway is designed to support professionals in identifying and responding to child sexual abuse, and empower them to learn more about the role they, and their colleagues, can play to best protect and support children.
Learning from case reviews has identified that we need to think the unthinkable in relation to child sexual abuse and to always have in our minds that it could happen here. The blog The myth of 'absolute knowing': when is the evidence enough? | CSA Centre discusses the challenges about decision making where there are concerns about sexual abuse and although it comes from a social care context it relates to all practitioners.
Wiltshire Child Sexual Abuse Framework
To further support practitioners in Wiltshire, we have brought together practice guidance and resources, research messages and learning from case reviews to help raise awareness and to provide support and guidance to practitioners.
What is the definition of child sexual abuse?
Working Together states that sexual abuse “Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts, such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing, and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse.
Sexual abuse can take place online, and technology can be used to facilitate offline abuse. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.”
You may hear the term intrafamilial sexual abuse – this means abuse that takes place within the family environment; the perpetrator may or may not be related to them: Key messages from research on intra-familial child sexual abuse, Centre of Expertise on child sexual abuse
It is important to understand the distinction between CSA and child sexual exploitation (CSE) which is a form of child sexual abuse.
CSE occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. CSE is also known as extrafamilial sexual abuse.
The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.
More information on CSE can be found link to here.
The National Working Group provides information on child exploitation, including child sexual exploitation: Tackling CSE .
What is the difference between contact and non-contact abuse?
There are 2 different types of child sexual abuse. These are called contact abuse and non-contact abuse.
Contact abuse involves activities where an abuser makes physical contact with a child. It includes:
- sexual touching of any part of the body, whether the child is wearing clothes or not
- forcing or encouraging a child to take part in sexual activity
- making a child take their clothes off or touch someone else’s genitals
- rape or penetration by putting an object or body part inside a child’s mouth, vagina or anus.
Non-contact abuse involves activities where there is no physical contact. It includes:
- encouraging or forcing a child to watch or hear sexual acts
- not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activities by others
- making a child masturbate while others watch
- persuading a child to make, view or distribute child abuse images
- making, viewing or distributing child abuse images
- allowing someone else to make, view or distribute child abuse images
- meeting a child following grooming with the intent of abusing them
- sexually exploiting a child for money, power or status
Child sexual abuse by adults in online contexts | CSA Centre includes information about how contact and non-contact sexual abuse can crossover.
Further information about this form of CSA can be found here: What is online sexual abuse (CEOP)?
The Marie Collins Foundation also provide information about the nature of technology -assisted CSA (TACSA) and have published a new resource POWER which is a resource to help healing from TACSA.
How prevalent is child sexual abuse?
The Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse undertakes a range of research and publishes data on the prevalence of this form of abuse, which can be used in team meetings and training to inform practitioners. They have created a Data Insights Hub which provides access to local and national data on child sexual abuse in England and Wales.
They also produce a number of Infographics that set our prevalence and can be downloaded and used to inform discussions within your team or service:
What are the signs and indicators of sexual abuse?
Not all children will recognise that they are being abused particularly if they have been groomed. Many children will not disclose if they are being or have experienced any type of abuse and research indicates that professionals are least confident in dealing with this category of abuse.
The list below provides some physical, emotional and behavioural indicators that may be a sign that a child has experienced or is experiencing sexual abuse.
- Avoiding being alone with or frightened of people or a person they know.
- Language or sexual behaviour you would not expect them to know.
- Having nightmares or bed-wetting.
- Sudden mood changes and/or frequent crying.
- Becoming withdrawn, quiet, emotionally flat and disinterested and isolated.
- Becoming hyperactive and/or aggressive.
- School problems – poor attendance and/or poor school work.
- Alcohol or drug misuse.
- Self-harm.
- Changes in eating habits or developing an eating problem.
- Bruises.
- Bleeding, discharge, pains or soreness in their genital or anal area.
- Sexually transmitted infections.
- Pregnancy
More information can be found Spotting-signs-of-child-sexual-abuse and there is a Signs and indicators template to help professionals.
Identifying and responding to CSA
In the final Learning for the future: final analysis of Serious Case Reviews 2017 to 2019, child sexual abuse was highlighted as a key theme. Their findings included:
- The extent of the deception employed by the perpetrators, and sometimes others in the family, sometimes sustained over a long time (and for some perpetrators, across more than one family) – this included avoiding professional interventions.
- The ways that children’s ‘disclosures’, either through what they say or their behaviour, can often be ignored or not recognised, by other family members and by professionals, and not responded to, including:
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- That children rarely disclose verbally but may show they are experiencing CSA (e.g. challenging and sexually inappropriate behaviour)
- There can be a reluctance to take protective action without a clear disclosure from children
- Chronic neglect occurred in many families which sometimes became the focus whilst CSA continued unrecognised
- Challenges of CSA investigations – health missing physical symptoms
- Using tools to help assess the risk can help
The analysis also identified that pre-existing vulnerabilities in a family can make it easier for perpetrators to gain access to children: NSPCC Briefing Learning-for-the-future-final-analysis-of-serious-case-reviews-2017-2019-caspar-briefing
NSPCC’s have also summarised learning from case reviews since 2017: Child sexual abuse: learning from case reviews | NSPCC Learning
Intra-familial child sexual abuse: risk factors, indicators and protective factors (Research in Practice) – this resource is designed to support practitioners to use research evidence to structure their thinking in relation to intra-familial child sexual abuse (IFCSA). The practice tool provides helpful information on:
Risk factors and vulnerabilities associated with child sexual abuse
Indicators associated with intra-familial child sexual abuse
Protective factors associated with intra-familial child sexual abuse
Intra-familial child sexual abuse vulnerability template – this is a mapping tool to use to assess the evidence you have gathered. Social Workers are most likely to use this tool, but it could be used by other professionals as a framework for thinking about concerns they may have.
Talking to children and young people about sexual abuse
A key finding from the National Review on Child Sexual Abuse within the Family Environment is that there are enormous barriers for children to talk about sexual abuse within their family and that those working with children may not recognise what is happening to them, even when their behaviour may be indicative of abuse.
The review also identified that practitioners need to understand when and how they should talk sensitively to children about concerns about sexual abuse. The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse has published a Communicating-with-children-guide.pdf along with a video to support practitioners in using the guide.
What is the impact of sexual abuse?
Victim-survivors of child sexual abuse can be affected in a wide range of ways and no two people are affected in the same way. It can impact on:
Mental health and wellbeing
Physical health
Sex and sexual functioning in adolescence and adulthood
Relationships and parenting
Socio-economic and educational impacts
Impact on families, for example on the non-abusing parent and siblings
For further information: Key messages from research on the impacts of child sexual abuse (Centre for Expertise on CSA)
Understanding sibling sexual behaviour and sibling sexual abuse?
Sibling sexual abuse is considered to be one of the most common forms of sexual abuse within the family environment. Practitioners need to be able to differentiate between sibling sexual behaviour and sexual abuse.
Sibling sexual behaviour: children display a range of common and healthy sexual behaviour at different stages of their development, and this may include with each other and between siblings. This is a complex area and the Centre for Expertise for child sexual abuse has created this guide to support you in identifying and understand this area and how to respond: Sibling sexual behaviour guide.
Sibling sexual abuse: The Centre for Expertise for child sexual abuse has provided a knowledge and practice overview to help you understand the issues and challenges raised by sibling sexual abuse - Sibling sexual abuse
Further information can be found here:
Sibling sexual abuse: a type of intra-familial abuse (NSPCC Learning) – video
Sibling sexual abuse project | SARSAS
Understanding grooming and perpetrator behaviour
Grooming is a process that "involves the offender building a relationship with a child, and sometimes with their wider family, gaining their trust and a position of power over the child, in preparation for abuse." (CEOP, 2022).
Learning from case reviews has identified the highly manipulative and at times subtle nature of grooming behaviour. Perpetrators can groom children, adults who care for them and also professionals working with them.
“The purpose of grooming is to reduce the likelihood of detection or the child disclosing and reducing the chance of the child being believed if they do disclose. As well as grooming children, perpetrators also groom and manipulate the adults around the child and the professionals involved. Perpetrators can be charming, or they may intimidate and frighten professionals so that they are distracted from their abusive behaviours. Grooming behaviours can be very subtle. They include favouritism within a family of a particular child and making the child depend on them” (CSPR Long term sexual abuse of children in care)
Finkelhor’s model of four pre-conditions to sexually abusive/offending behaviour in perpetrators can help practitioners understand how abuse can take place:
More information about this model can be found here: Finkelhor model | Recovery From Child Sexual Abuse (recovery-from-child-sexual-abuse.org.uk)
Further information to support your understanding of grooming can be found here:
Grooming: recognising the signs | NSPCC Learning
Grooming and online grooming | Childline
The role of education in relation to CSA
Schools are important settings for the prevention of child sexual abuse. Teachers and school staff already have responsibilities for reporting concerns about student welfare. They can also help to build the protective capabilities of students, and of all adults working with children, so that abuse does not occur. Schools and professionals in education settings play a pivotal role in identifying and responding to concerns about children and supporting them to be safe.
Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024) - statutory guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) - highlights the importance of identifying concerns early, preventing concerns from escalating, all staff having the knowledge of what to do if a child shares that they have been abused and an understanding of how to reassure victims and that they will be supported and kept safe.
All staff in schools should receive regular training to support their understanding of CSA and how this may impact on a child’s demeaner and learning behaviours.
Schools should also use their PSHE and RSE programmes of study to support children. The role of schools in preventing child sexual abuse in giving children the knowledge to recognise abuse and seek help where necessary and support the early identification of victims would be supported through high quality PSHE/RSE curricula.
Resources for schools in relation to harmful sexual behaviour
Wiltshire Healthy School Harmful Sexual Behaviour Resource Page
Home - Shore (shorespace.org.uk) – finding this really helpful as a young person friendly website to help open up specific topics (includes how to deal with regrets about HSB, building a good life after HSB etc).
Sex education - a guide for parents (autism.org.uk)
Help for schools - Stop It Now – various resources including the Education Safety Plan attached (useful table and prompts, including regarding how safety plan measures will be reviewed).
Historic sexual abuse
You may work with a child or adult who makes a disclosure of historic sexual abuse. If they are still under 18 then follow your usual safeguarding processes for children.
If they are an adult then guidance on how to respond can be found here: Non-recent abuse | NSPCC.
They can report what they have suffered to the police and there is no time limit to report the abuse. However, if it is a long time agio this may make it more difficult for the police to gather evidence to support a prosecution.
If they want to report what has happened to them but not to the Police, then they can speak to Crimestoppers anonymously. This can also be carried out by a family member or friend. Reporting to Crimestoppers allows them to report the offence and provide information to the police but will not lead to a police investigation: Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers.
How can I support the non-abusing parent or a sibling of a child who has been abused?
Harmful sexual behaviour and child on child abuse
What were the findings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse?
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) for England and Wales has published its final report. The report draws on evidence from public hearings, the Inquiry’s research programme and submissions to the ‘Truth Project’ from people who were sexually abused as children.
Recommendations include introducing a statutory requirement of mandatory reporting, establishing a national scheme to provide monetary reparations to those who experienced sexual abuse in institutions, and creating Child Protection Authorities for England and for Wales to improve child protection practice, provide advice to government and monitor implementation of the Inquiry’s recommendations. We are waiting to hear if and when mandatory reporting will be introduced.
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report: summary and government response (NSPCC Learning)
The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, October 2022
What is Sarah’s Law?
Sarah’s Law, or the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme allows parents, carers and guardians to ask the police to tell them if someone has a criminal record for child sexual offences.
If police checks show the individual has a record for child sexual offences, or other offences that might put the child at risk, the police will consider sharing this information.
The police will only consider telling the person best placed to protect the child – usually a parent, carer or guardian – if the person being checked has a record of child sexual offences or other offences that indicate they may pose a risk to a child. The police will disclose information only if it is lawful, necessary and proportionate to do so in the interests of protecting the child, or children, from harm.
What training is available?
The Centre for Expertise on child sexual abuse provide free online training (90 minutes) which you can also get a certificate for: eLearning | CSA Centre
What support and services are there for someone who has been sexually abused or assaulted?
Sexual Violence Services Pathway - Bath & N.E. Somerset (survivorpathway.org.uk)
Online resource - sets out pathway of provision for both recent and no-recent sexual abuse.
Letting the future in – leaflet?
Understanding medical examinations for child sexual abuse (Video)
Home - Safeline - Believe in you - Surviving sexual abuse & rape : provide a range of services included telephone and online counselling. They also host the National Male Survivor Helpline: 0808 800 5005
What support is there for perpetrators or for those who are worried about their behaviours?
Stop It Now! helpline and campaign | The Lucy Faithfull Foundation
Situational prevention: the practical approach to preventing child sexual abuse (lucyfaithfull.org.uk)
Home - Shore (shorespace.org.uk)
The Probation Service also provide number of national programmes for perpetrators. These are strengths-based interventions and are for convicted perpetrators on probation for example on license or on a community order. Programmes include:
Horizon and iHorizon for internet offenders who have downloaded images for example.
New Me – this programme is aimed at men with a learning disability or cognitive impairment.
In addition, high risks sexual offenders are managed through MAPPA (Multi-agency public protection arrangements). The purpose of the MAPPA framework is to reduce the risks posed by sexual and violent offenders in order to protect the public, including previous victims, from serious harm. The responsible authorities in respect of MAPPA are the police, prison and the probation service who have a duty to ensure that MAPPA is established in each of their geographic areas and to undertake the risk assessment and management of all identified MAPPA offenders (primarily violent offenders on licence or mental health orders and all registered sex offenders). MAPPA is not a statutory body in itself but is a mechanism through which agencies can better discharge their statutory responsibilities and protect the public in a coordinated way. More information about MAPPA can be found here: MAPPA Guidance
Support and signposting and other resources
Shore – a safe space for teenagers worried about sexual behaviour
Video - tea and consent: understanding consent
Resources for education settings | CSA Centre
The Marie Collins Foundation also provide information about the nature fo technology -assisted CSA (TACSA) and have published a new resource POWER which is a resource to help healing from TACSA.
Safeline - Believe in you - Surviving sexual abuse & rape : provide a range of services included telephone and online counselling. They also host the National Male Survivor Helpline: 0808 800 5005