There is a tendency for governments and safeguarding agencies to concentrate efforts and resources on activities that respond after abuse has happened.
Our goal is to promote a public health approach to preventing child sexual abuse which places more focus on preventing abuse before it happens.
What is a public health approach?
A public health approach provides a framework to prevent child sexual abuse by addressing the root causes. There are three levels of intervention.
Primary: targeted at wider society, for example broad campaigning to raise awareness of child sexual abuse and education about healthy relationships.
Secondary: targeted at people at risk of offending or victimisation with the aim of stopping potential offending and victimisation.
Tertiary: abuse has already occurred and interventions are focused on preventing further offending and further harm to victims.
Adopting a public health approach and implementing interventions at all three levels means that prevention efforts are holistic and effective.
We were delighted to host Sir Sajid Javid in a visit to our Bromsgrove HQ. It was an opportunity to reflect on the continued growth of our Stop It Now helpline and our online deterrence campaign. As Home Secretary, Sir Sajid recognised and invested in our work to change the behaviour of those who have offended or at risk of offending. As a result, we continue to reach more people each year.
Sir Sajid Javid continues to support the public health approach to preventing child sexual abuse following his time as Home Secretary
And as Home Secretary, I will continue to make sure that the police have all the powers and tools they need to fight child sexual abuse and to bring offenders to justice. In parallel, we will provide a further £2.6 million to collaborate with child protection organisations to improve our understanding of offender behaviour and prevent future offending. This includes support to the Lucy Faithfull Foundation which aims to change the behaviour of offenders and potential offenders by highlighting the harm and suffering that takes place behind every image.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s speech on online child sexual exploitation on Monday 3 September 2018.
Back in September, I told you about our partnership with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which aims to protect victims by changing the behaviour of potential offenders. Today I can reveal that at the start of this year they were able to take 24% more calls than in the same period in 2018. They’ve also seen a 40% surge in the number of people being helped by their Stop It Now! website. And we know it’s working, with independent evaluation showing web users concerned about their behaviour reported increased awareness of the law and positive behaviour changes. So more potential offenders are being stopped before they prey upon children – something we undoubtedly need to see more of.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s speech at the NSPCC’s “How Safe are our Children?” conference on Tuesday 25 June 2019.
We held a joint conference with NOTA that focused on the prevention of child sexual abuse. It was a privilege to have our conference opened by Megan Hinton, Victim and Survivor Advocate at the Marie Collins Foundation who spoke about the importance of prevention from a survivor’s perspective. Through a series of workshops and keynote speeches, knowledge and tools were shared with professionals to improve confidence around the role they can play in preventing abuse and how they fit within a public health model.
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