Child Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
The Government defines child sexual abuse as:
‘…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. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing, and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse. Sexual abuse can take place online, and technology can be used to facilitate offline abuse. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children’. (Department for Education, 2023).
For this strategy the partnership is focused upon:
Child sexual abuse by adults in the family network (including children in care, children adopted, foster carers, neighbours and friends of the family)
Child sexual abuse by other trusted adults
Harmful sexual behaviour by siblings
Harmful sexual behaviour by other children or young people
Child sexual abuse and harmful sexual behaviour in online contexts
The partnership has developed a separate response to child exploitation, which includes child sexual exploitation. Of note the Telford and Wrekin definition of child sexual exploitation, a subject overlaps with this strategy:
‘Child sexual exploitation is a type of modern slavery when a male or female under 18 is sexually exploited for the benefit or gain of someone else. The benefit or gain can come in many forms such as increased social status or financial gain. Some victims are also trafficked for the purpose of exploitation.’
Child sexual abuse is present within all communities and does not discriminate. It is incredibly harmful, and its effects can cause survivors difficulties for the rest of their lives. Its prevalence is not fully understood across our communities, with many believing it is less common than it is. For example, nationally, one in ten children (15% of girls and 5% of boys) experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 16. There is no reason to believe this is different in Telford and Wrekin. Additionally, child sexual abuse is more common for those children who are experiencing other difficulties in their lives, e.g.,
Adults who had lived in a household where someone had a long-term mental health problem or disability, or someone had misused alcohol or drugs, were three times as likely to have been sexually abused as a child, as those who had not.
Adults who had been neglected in childhood were five times as likely as other adults to have also experienced child sexual abuse.
Adults who had lived in a care home as children were nearly four times as likely to have experienced child sexual abuse.
Recent national publications1 indicate local strategies and responses to child sexual abuse may not be protecting children fully. Although recent case audits demonstrate effective responses to child sexual abuse in Telford and Wrekin, our local intention to continually grow and develop has caused us to use this national information to focus on this important area of multi-agency activity.
When responding to child sexual abuse, it is natural to focus on children. Others are affected also by this form of abuse, and it is necessary to think more widely about who else we need to consider. For this strategy we are looking at:
Children at risk of sexual abuse
Children who have been sexually abused
Parents, siblings, carers and the wider family of sexually abused children
Adults who were sexually abused in childhood
Children who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour
Families of children who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour
Adults who are at risk of sexually abusing children
Adults who have sexually abused children (including by viewing child sexual abuse images)
Families of adults who have sexually abused children
Prevent and disrupt child sexual abuse
Create a culture across Telford and Wrekin to ensure children feel safe, heard and respected
Promote the engagement of children to understand their experiences and to increase their confidence in being to speak about their worries or abuse
Deliver community education and awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and increase understanding.
Promote healthy relationships and consent education in schools and youth settings
Strengthen early help and family support services to reduce vulnerabilities
Develop a wider protective network around children by involving professionals beyond the immediate safeguarding partnership
Develop a comprehensive range of disruption measures that restrict or interfere with the activities of those who present a threat of sexual harm to children
Develop services and practice to respond to those children who display harmful sexual behaviour
Support the community to be able to identify and recognise the signs and indicators of child sexual abuse, sexually abusive behaviour, and act on them
Support staff so they can recognise signs and indicators of child sexual abuse, and sexually abusive behaviour, and act on them
Develop staff so they are confident and competent in communicating with children when there are concerns about sexual abuse, or when a child tells them something
Reflective supervision frameworks are developed to support effective responses to child sexual abuse
Promote effective, consistent and non-blaming language across the multi-agency partnership
Ensure identification is not reliant on verbal disclosures
Implement mandatory reporting in line with the Crime and Policing Bill 2025.
Develop a local child sexual abuse pathway aligned with national best practice.
All children feel believed, listened to, safe and supported
Develop a clear and shared understanding of the roles played by all agencies/organisations
Ensure timely and effective information sharing
Ensure children and their families receive coordinated support
Ensure staff understand the impact of child sexual abuse on the whole-family
Support children with trained police and social workers that enables them to give their account via video recorded interviews and tell their story only once.
Utilise trauma-informed services for children, families, and adult survivors.
Offer the opportunity to meet with a trained medical practitioner
Ensure access to mental health support and specialist advocacy via an independent sexual violence advocate (ISVA)
Ensure access to therapeutic support
Identify children who ‘were not brought’ to all relevant support appointments.
Offer support to family members/carers throughout, and provide access to an advocate
Embed co-production with survivors in service design and review
Ensure the partnership considers the needs of all children, concentrating on children with additional needs, and those communities who can find it more difficult to engage with statutory partners
Develop a multi-agency approach to child sexual abuse that builds on the strengths of different organisations and learns together
Enhance coordination between all multi-agency partners
Share learning from national and regional safeguarding partnerships
Support the multi-agency workforce through training and access to tools and resources, enabling them to respond with confidence when working with a child and their family affected by child sexual abuse
Ensure child sexual abuse is a focus of governance arrangements
Use data and intelligence to identify trends and respond proactively
As a partnership understand the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Telford and Wrekin, the profile of children impacted, and the outcomes and impact of multi-agency intervention. Challenge disproportionality.
Conduct case file audits to understand the quality of direct work with children, families, and those who present a threat of harm to children
Develop feedback loops with staff, those with lived experience and families