To get serious about protecting children, we need to talk about prevention

Published: 14/01/2025

There’s been a lot of focus on the subject of grooming gangs over the past couple of weeks. The fact that people are talking about it means that the protection of children can get the attention it desperately needs. Unfortunately, little of the discussion has focused on what victims and survivors need, or how to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse in the first place.

Child sexual abuse takes many forms

1 in 10 children will experience some form of sexual abuse before they’re 16 (15% of girls and 5% of boys).

  • Children who are abused, and the people who abuse them, come from all backgrounds and walks of life. There is no typical sexual abuser. Common assumptions about who abuses children are often very, very wrong.

  • Child sexual abuse happens online and offline, often concurrently.

  • 2 in 3 of the reported cases of child sexual abuse involve abuse by a family member – and of the 7,000 survivors who took part in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)’s Truth Project, almost half (47%) were abused by a family member, by far the largest proportion.

  • Around 1 in 3 cases is estimated to be perpetrated by another child or young person.

Focusing only on one type of harm doesn’t do our children justice

Child sexual abuse takes a number of different forms – for example, sexual abuse within the home by an adult family member, sexual abuse by a peer at school, sexual grooming and abuse online by a stranger, and street grooming by a gang. All cause great harm, but each needs a different response as well as different strategies to prevent it from happening in the first place. Focusing only on sexual exploitation and grooming gangs does not address the vast majority of child sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse usually happens in secret with only a small proportion coming to light. The nature of abuse and exploitation also changes over time. This means we don’t know everything about the extent and complexity of harm – however, there is a growing body of knowledge and data, and we have built up a good understanding of how it happens and how we can prevent it.

National and local inquiries, reports and serious case reviews (including from IICSA and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel) have made a whole range of recommendations to improve the identification, response and prevention of child sexual abuse. While some of these recommendations have brought noticeable changes, most have not been adequately funded or implemented.

We need a more informed conversation

It’s really important that we have constructive conversations about child sexual abuse. But current debate fails to do the subject, or our children, justice.

In the last Parliament, just 7% of debates on child sexual abuse focused on abuse within the family, when the reality is that around 60% of the reported cases of child sexual abuse involve abuse from a family member.

Political and media discussion tends to focus on the latest crisis, shifting the spotlight from scandal to scandal. This leaves out the wider context. It creates confusion around the true nature of the problem, and prevents consideration of effective solutions or means that implementations are rushed. This is the risk with new legislation around mandatory reporting, which requires due care and consideration to avoid unintended consequences.

How can we prevent child sexual abuse, before it happens?

Over the past 20 years, we have developed a good understanding of what prevents child sexual abuse and protects children. The list includes:

  • Knowledgeable parents and carers who understand the risks to children and implement family safety plans.

  • Excellent Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education for children and young people, to help them grow up understanding issues of respect, consent and healthy relationships. They can then seek help for their worries, and behave well around family members and peers.

  • People who work with children and families having a good understanding of the warning signs, risk and protective factors regarding child sexual abuse, as well as effective safeguarding policies and practices in organisations and institutions. We need to help our frontline workers have the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage well in the prevention of and response to child sexual abuse.

  • Safe spaces for adults to get help if they have concerns about child sexual abuse. This includes adults concerned about the sexual behaviour of another adult or young person, particularly those within their family or social network.

  • Services for adults and under-18s who pose a sexual risk to children, so they can access help to stop and manage their thoughts and behaviour before a child is harmed.

These are just a few examples – there are many more things we as individuals and society more broadly must do to keep children safe.

Lucy Faithfull Foundation advocates for a public health approach to preventing child sexual abuse. Such an approach would ensure we target activities and interventions at different audiences at different times. And what is absolutely necessary is effective national leadership on the issue. We need a sustained and cross-government response to the problem which looks at the issues and implements, supports and resources the solutions in the round. One of the IICSA report’s final recommendations was the implementation of Child Protection Authorities for England and Wales. Such bodies could go a long way in creating the coordinated response we need.

What can you do?

If you are a politician or a policy-maker

Without a real understanding of the different ways and contexts in which people sexually abuse children, policy-makers can’t create effective strategies to prevent and respond. But evidence around the scale of the problem, and solutions that bring hope, do exist.

  • Know the facts

    • Increase your knowledge: read our briefing about how children are at risk of sexual abuse in every UK neighbourhood, and how prevention strategies can keep them safe https://www.closertohome.co.uk/.

  • Create a better debate and understanding
    • Use your leadership position to create a better debate – moving away from sensationalising the latest crisis is vital.

  • Put evidence-based, targeted prevention strategies at the heart of tackling child sexual abuse
    • Evidence shows that specific interventions prevent offending and reoffending. When planning and policy-making, use the evidence and expertise of experts.

  • Support prevention-friendly environments
    • People working with children and families need the knowledge, skills and confidence to recognise and respond to concerns of child sexual abuse effectively. If we want to get serious about preventing it, we need to get comfortable having uncomfortable conversations about preventing abuse from happening, and recognising and responding when it does.

  • Deliver better support for victims and survivors
    • It is estimated that more than 55,000 people in England and Wales are on waiting lists for support following child sexual abuse. Earlier support can make a big difference to reduce the physical, mental, emotional and social impact of child sexual abuse.

What we can we all do

Police and social services have important roles to play once child sexual abuse is known or suspected, and they need to be better supported to respond well. But most abuse is never known or suspected, so it is for all of us to play our part.

  • Have a more informed public discussion
    • Our conversations should be informed by accurate and credible information and a commitment to protect children, rather than fed by hysteria.

  • Understand the risks
    • Understanding where the risks to children are can help us implement measures to keep them safe. For example, by having the confidence to ask schools, youth groups or other settings to explain their safeguarding measures.

  • Know the warning signs
    • “Warning sign” is really just another way of saying “opportunity to prevent” – a chance for caring adults to recognise possible risks and to take action to protect children. The most effective prevention takes place before there’s a child victim to heal, or an offender to punish.

  • Apply knowledge
    • At home, we can implement family safety plans. At work, we can look to improve our policies, procedures and practice to help ensure the safety of children.

Find out more

Read about how children are at risk of sexual abuse in every UK neighbourhood and how prevention strategies can keep them safe: https://www.closertohome.co.uk/

For information on how to keep children safe: https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/advice/

If you want to know more about the data: https://www.csacentre.org.uk/

If you’re a survivor who needs support: https://napac.org.uk/

How we can help you

We provide training, assessments, intervention and consultancy to help prevent child sexual abuse.

Our anonymous Stop It Now helpline can support any adult worried about a child or young person’s sexual behaviour.

Our Shore website has anonymous advice and information for teenagers worried about their own or a friend’s sexual behaviour.

We need your support

We want to stop child sexual abuse, before it happens but we cannot achieve this without your kindness and generosity.

Help us to continue delivering and expanding our services in order to reach more people and prevent child sexual abuse. Please consider donating today.

If you have any questions or feedback about the report or our work in general, please do get in touch. Sign up to receive our emails and find us on Twitter/XFacebookLinkedInInstagram and YouTube.

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What’s Porn Got To Do With It?

An event co-hosted by Lucy Faithfull Foundation and NWG. How pornography contributes to harmful sexual behaviour in young people – and what needs to change. 

Tuesday, March 4 · 9:30am – 12:30pm GMT.

Price: £52.74 per person

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We want to hear from you

As you may have noticed, our website looks a little different now. We’ve restructured and redesigned the site to be more accessible to you, so we’d love to know what you think. All feedback will remain anonymous; we do not collect any personal identifying information.