Tameside SCB

- Guidance for Practitioners

What is child sexual abuse?

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. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

Sexual Activity

A growing awareness of sex is part of a child’s development and this is part of normal human development. Some of this awareness will include young people developing intimate relationships with other young people. Again this is generally not harmful unless it is associated with force or happens when the young person has not given consent or cannot give consent. It is also a common experience of human development for children to explore their own body and masturbation is part of this exploration. It does not usually cause concern unless it is done in public; starts to affect the child's daily activities and social life; or causes injury to the genitals.

For more information about how practitioners should respond to sexual activity by under 18 year olds please go to [* link to be inserted here to TSCB policy on website].

For parents and carers the NSPCC has produced a useful guide, Protecting children from sexual abuse – A guide for parents and carers. This can be accessed at NSPCC Inform

Sexual Exploitation

Sexual exploitation is an area of concern about harm to young people. This can involve adults or other young people developing an intimate relationship with a young person and then using that relationship to exploit the young person, for example by coercing them into sex with others, sometimes with the intention of making financial gain.

Children and young people who are sexually exploited are the victims of child sexual abuse, and their needs require careful assessment. They are likely to be in need of welfare services and – in many cases – protection under the Children Act 1989. This group may include children who have been sexually abused or groomed through the misuse of technology, coerced into sexual activity by criminal gangs or the victims of trafficking.

For more information on sexual exploitation please go to the TSCB Safeguarding Library page on Sexual Exploitation.  

The DCSF published guidance in June 2009 on Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation.

Sexual abuse of children includes:

• sexual touching of any part of the body, clothed or unclothed, including using an object
• all penetrative sex, including penetration of the mouth with an object or part of the body such as fingers, tongue or penis
• encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity, including sexual acts with someone else, or making a child strip or masturbate
• intentionally engaging in sexual activity in front of a child or not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activity by others
• deliberate exposure of adult genitals to a child or young person
• meeting a child following sexual grooming, or preparation, with the intention of abusing them
• taking, making, permitting to take, distributing, showing or advertising indecent images of children
• paying for the sexual services of a child or encouraging them into prostitution or pornography
• showing a child images of sexual activity including photographs, videos or via webcams

What can we do to prevent children being sexually abused?

A safe relationship between adults and children is one in which secrets are hard to keep; where children would feel able to tell someone even if they hadn’t been able to say ‘no’ to the abuse. People who want to abuse children avoid these situations. The more difficult we make it for abusers to come between children and parents or carers, the better-protected children will be.

Sometimes the abuser is a parent or another close family member. When that happens it’s especially painful for the safe parent or other family members to face it and it’s even harder for children to say ‘no’ and tell someone. Please remember that we should not expect children to take the responsibility for stopping abuse. Therefore it is not right to always expect a child to say 'no' to an adult who can appear powerful and threatening in their life.

Sometimes a person outside the child’s immediate family has a clearer view of what is going on than those more closely involved. Sexual abuse is also rarely a one-off event and sometimes involves the abuse of more than one child. 

In order to prevent child sexual abuse parents and carers need to

• Be aware of the warning signs that someone we know may have a sexual interest in children and seek help if we are worried. If we think someone we know has a sexual interest in or may be abusing a child, seek professional help. Don’t keep it a secret.
• Talk to children, and listen to what they have to say. People who sexually abuse children rely on secrecy. They try to silence children and to build trust with adults, counting on us to be silent if we have doubts. The first step to tackling this secrecy is to develop an open and trusting relationship with our children. This means listening carefully to their fears and concerns and letting them know they should not worry about telling us anything. It is important to talk with them about sex, and to be comfortable using the words they may use.
• Demonstrate to children that it is all right to say ‘no’ (but recognise that this is not always an easy thing for children to say to adults). Teach children when it is OK to say ‘no’, for example when they do not want to play, or be tickled, hugged or kissed. Help them to understand, what is unacceptable behaviour and that they must always tell us if someone is behaving in a way which worries them, even if they were unable to say no at the time.
• Set and respect family boundaries. Make sure that all members of the family have rights to privacy in dressing, bathing, sleeping and other personal activities. Even young children should be listened to and their preferences respected.
• Take sensible precautions about whom we choose to take care of our children. Be careful about who children are left with. Find out as much as we can about baby-sitters and don’t leave our child with anyone we have reservations about. If our child is unhappy about being cared for by a particular adult, talk to the child about the reasons for this.

Allegations against adults who work with children and young people

Abuse of children can also take place where adults are in a position of power or trust such as where a practitioner is working with children. If you have a concern that this may be happening go to the TSCB procedure for managing allegations against adults who work with children and young people.

The impact of child sexual abuse

The impact of child sexual abuse on individual people cannot be predicted as it varies depending on many factors. Some people survive child sexual abuse without apparent effects, growing up to live fulfilled lives, able to make positive caring relationships with adults and to nurture children safely and well.

A proportion of adults and children and young people who sexually abuse children have themselves been sexually abused as children. They may also have been exposed as children to domestic violence and discontinuity of care. However, it would be quite wrong to suggest that most children who are sexually abused inevitably go on to become abusers themselves.

The severity of impact on a child is believed to increase the longer the abuse continues, the more extensive the abuse, and the older the child.

A number of features of sexual abuse have also been linked with severity of impact, including

• the relationship of the abuser to the child
• the extent of premeditation
• the degree of threat and coercion, sadism, and bizarre or unusual elements

A child’s ability to cope with the experience of sexual abuse, once recognised or disclosed, is strengthened by the support of a non-abusive adult carer who believes the child, helps the child understand the abuse, and is able to offer help and protection. The reactions of practitioners also have an impact on the child’s ability to cope with what has happened, and on his or her feelings of self worth.

The Effects of Child Sexual Abuse

Research has found that some of the possible effects, sometimes known as 'Signs', of sexual abuse in children and as adults are the following:

• sexualised behaviour
• sexually abusive behaviour
• symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• poor psychological functioning
• depression and low self-esteem
• eating disorders
• self harm
• suicide
• substance misuse

There is a lack of evidence for there being one obvious syndrome displayed by children who have been sexually abused. Children can display a variety of symptoms with no single symptom being displayed by a majority.

Also, any of the above effects may further affect the relationship between the child and the non-abusing parent/carer and this may be a sign of something not being right in the child's life.

The presence of sexually transmitted disease in a child is always a very serious concern and should be considered a strong indicator of sexual abuse. Other possible signs are pregnancy, tummy aches and complaints about soreness or pain in the genital or anal areas.

Two important points of caution in Recognition and Response

Sexual abuse is a very complex issue; the following two points should always be considered in recognising and responding to sexual abuse:

1. Taken in isolation or even together, these signs do not always mean that there is sexual abuse. The signs can be an indicator of other worries for the child (for example, if the child is living in a household with significant parental problems such as domestic abuse, illness, separation). Therefore it is a matter of careful professional judgement in interpreting the signs and the context of the child’s experience.
2. Also working in partnership with parents and carers usually means sharing concerns with them and discussing them. However if you suspect sexual abuse this must not be discussed directly with the parent/carer or other significant adult without first consulting with Children’s Social Work and/or the Police, from whom you must first gain explicit agreement on what can be discussed with the relevant adults.

Responding to disclosures of sexual abuse

Where a child or young person discloses something that indicates sexual abuse, this should always be taken seriously. It is not always obvious that a child is disclosing sexual abuse because it can be a very difficult subject to talk about. It is very important to consult with colleagues and with Children’s Social Work when you have a concern that the child is disclosing abuse.

In listening to a child that may be disclosing it can be useful to think 'TED' which is an acronym to remember not to ask leading questions (i.e. use the phrases, Tell me ..., Explain to me ...., Describe to me ....). Keep questions to the minimum that is necessary to clarify what they are telling you. It is the social worker or police officers task to carry out in-depth interviews, if necessary.

Always then record what the child has told you as soon as possible after they have done so. Within the recording you should note what they have told you (i.e. the 'Facts'); the context of what and how they have told you, e.g. the behaviour of the child during the disclosure and how it arose (i.e. your 'Interpretation'); and your analysis of what they have told you (i.e. your 'Opinion').

If you think that a child may have disclosed sexual abuse it is very important that you do not share any information about what the child has said with anyone (other than your line manager or designated child protection person) until you have agreed this with the social worker or police officer.

Never respond to a child by saying you will promise or guarantee to not to tell anyone what they have told you. But you can say to the child that you will speak to a social worker or police officer about what he or she has told you and about what must happen next in order to make things safe for them.

Working with children and young people who sexually abuse

Work with children and young people who abuse others, including those who sexually abuse/offend, should recognise that such children are likely to have considerable needs themselves, and that they may pose a significant risk of harm to other children.

Evidence suggests that children who abuse others may have suffered considerable disruption in their lives, been exposed to violence within the family, may have witnessed or been subject to physical or sexual abuse, have problems in their educational development and may have committed other offences. Such children and young people are likely to be children in need, and some will, in addition, be suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm, and may themselves be in need of protection.

Children and young people who abuse others should be held responsible for their abusive behaviour, while being identified and responded to in a way that meets their needs as well as protecting others.

Further Reading

There are many books and publications that cover the area of child sexual abuse and related subjects. Here are links to reports and resources that provide useful information on the subject.

A meta-review of interventions to support children and their families in the aftermath of child sexual abuse (funded by Action for Children, 2009)

 Safeguarding Young People (Children's Society, 2010)

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is dedicated to eradicating the sexual abuse of children. That means we are part of UK policing and very much about tracking and bringing offenders to account either directly or in partnership with local and international forces.