Protecting children. Preventing child sexual abuse.
Our vision is a world in which children live free from sexual abuse.
Our mission is to prevent child sexual abuse by intervening with people at risk of causing harm and enabling everyone to create a safer world for children.
Advice for parents, carers, professionals, and survivors, providing guidance on understanding key issues, responding to challenges, keeping children safe, maintaining wellbeing and where to find additional support.
We specialise in providing training, assessments, interventions, and case consultancy in relation to child sexual abuse and harmful sexual behaviour . We work with a range of organisations including children’s services, adult services, education, healthcare as well as individuals. Our services make a difference to the lives of children and families across the UK. Our projects are wide and varied and they all work towards the same aim – preventing child sexual abuse.
Through research, we develop effective strategies, inform public policy and provide the best support and interventions for individuals and families.
Through our advocacy work, we press for the system changes that are needed to enable a greater focus to be placed on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
As a charity, we rely on the kindness and generosity of people like you to support our vital work to prevent child sexual abuse.
By donating, fundraising, or simply spreading the word about our work, your support will have a huge impact.
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.
1 in 10 children will experience some form of sexual abuse before they’re 16 (15% of girls and 5% of boys).
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.
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.
Over the past 20 years, we have developed a good understanding of what prevents child sexual abuse and protects children. The list includes:
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.
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.
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.
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/
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 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/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Our Stop It Now helpline, self help and programmes are there to help anyone concerned about child sexual abuse. Shore is for teenagers worried about sexual behaviour.
Our helpline 0808 1000 900
2 Birch House, Harris Business Park, Hanbury Road
Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, B60 4DJ
Lucy Faithfull Foundation is a Registered Charity No. 1013025, and is a company limited by guarantee, Registered in England No. 2729957.
Protecting children. Preventing child sexual abuse.
Our vision is a world in which children live free from sexual abuse.
Our mission is to prevent child sexual abuse by intervening with people at risk of causing harm and enabling everyone to create a safer world for children.
Advice for parents, carers, professionals, and survivors, providing guidance on understanding key issues, responding to challenges, keeping children safe, maintaining wellbeing and where to find additional support.
We specialise in providing training, assessments, interventions, and case consultancy in relation to child sexual abuse and harmful sexual behaviour . We work with a range of organisations including children’s services, adult services, education, healthcare as well as individuals. Our services make a difference to the lives of children and families across the UK. Our projects are wide and varied and they all work towards the same aim – preventing child sexual abuse.
Through research, we develop effective strategies, inform public policy and provide the best support and interventions for individuals and families.
Through our advocacy work, we press for the system changes that are needed to enable a greater focus to be placed on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
As a charity, we rely on the kindness and generosity of people like you to support our vital work to prevent child sexual abuse.
By donating, fundraising, or simply spreading the word about our work, your support will have a huge impact.
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
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.
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.