A national review into child sexual abuse within families has found that listening to the experience of children needs to be front and centre in professional practice and decision-making. It has found that as professionals, we need to do better, but also that we need support.
In the words of the report, it has “uncovered significant and long-standing issues. Children who are sexually abused by someone in their family are frequently not being identified by practitioners, nor are they receiving the response needed for their ongoing safety and recovery. Child sexual abuse in the family environment has been allowed to thrive in secrecy and silence for far too long.”
The report aims to drive changes that empower practitioners and put the needs of children first – and it calls for a national action plan, something we here at Lucy Faithfull Foundation support.
What’s gone wrong?
The report says that the confidence and capability of professionals to identify and respond to sexual abuse in families has been undermined.
It says that “it is often not a matter of professionals not knowing about the risk of abuse, but rather of a system that simply does not see, notice and comprehend this type of risk.”
“These challenges are not about the failings of individuals or one agency to do their job. They are systemic and of a multi-agency nature.”
A “worrying evaporation” of skills and knowledge “may be partly explained by the greater public and professional attention on the sexual abuse of children in institutions, by ‘famous’ people and on the sexual exploitation of children outside their home. This was undoubtedly urgently required, but it may also have drawn our eyes away from the more common experience for children, of sexual abuse in their families.”
How can we do better?
The report comes with some solutions. And they are solutions we can get behind.
- We need to ensure those who have been the victim of abuse are supported and protected by the safeguarding system, maximising the impact of protective adults.
- Everyone who interacts with children and families needs to be aware of the signs and indicators of child sexual abuse so that early intervention and prevention strategies can be put in place
- The government should “should ensure that practitioners understand that they can and should talk directly to children, and families, about concerns of sexual abuse.” Being curious about children’s experiences and open to what they tell us is a first step in preventing harm. Professionals need the knowledge and skills in talking and engaging with children. We need to develop their confidence and support their decision-making through continued professional development and oversight.
- The report saw “an unrealistic over-reliance on parents and carers to protect their children, without giving them the guidance and support they needed to do this. Practitioners were often using working agreements and safety plans which did not take full account of parents’ and carers’ own situations and needs, such as learning difficulties or disabilities, or being victims of domestic abuse. Parents and carers were often left feeling that practitioners did not believe them, blamed them, or would not listen to them, particularly when they had additional communication needs related to language or disability.”
So much is expected of safeguarding professionals and clearly there are huge risks that things can go wrong. The report found that “practitioners working with children and families have not been equipped with the knowledge, skills and practical guidance to identify and respond confidently when there are concerns of child sexual abuse in the family environment.” To address that it calls for “wholesale change in training, supervision and leadership” and to “ensure that practitioners and managers have the necessary skills, knowledge and capabilities, including access to relevant guidance.”
How we can help you: our training gives professionals the knowledge and insight they need to understand the causes and signs of child sexual abuse, and how to prevent and respond to it. We are contacted by many safeguarding professionals who want to increase their confidence in protecting children at risk of child sexual abuse. Our experience is that they want to do better and we can help, including through our anonymous Stop It Now helpline, which can give case advice to support professionals.
When harm has been identified, there may or may not be enough evidence to prosecute, but the absence of this shouldn’t stop help being available to families. Either way, the report says that the government “should ensure that there is robust assessment and management of people who present a risk of sexual harm and who have contact with children.”
How we can help you: alongside our case and organisational consultancy, we carry out hundreds of assessments and interventions each year to guide professional decision-making and reduce the risk of harm and the role that protective adults and professionals can play in protecting children. Our experts work alongside professionals helping them navigate often complex dynamics and family situations. This enhances professional expertise and helps make the right decisions for children.
We also welcome the report’s recognition of the need for an approach that brings in a wide range of stakeholders and moves away from “a system that too often is criminal justice led.” It says that a “national strategic response, led by government, is needed. This will involve investment in better working together, not only between the trinity of safeguarding partners (local authorities, police and health) but also with schools and other education providers, with the criminal and family justice system (including probation), and with the third sector.”
