Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse involves forcing or encouraging a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, with or without physical contact. This page helps people who work with children spot concerns early and take appropriate action.
Key information
Safeguarding reviews identify recurring issues in how child sexual abuse is recognised and responded to, particularly when it occurs within families.
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Child sexual abuse is often hidden
Children may not disclose verbally. Practitioners need to recognise subtle, indirect or behavioural signs. -
Much abuse takes place within families
Almost half of child sexual abuse offences reported to the police in England and Wales in 2021/22 occurred within the family environment, including abuse by parents, siblings, grandparents, step‑parents or others considered “one of the family”. -
Abuse includes non‑contact forms
Online grooming, sexualised conversations, exposure to sexual content and image production are all forms of child sexual abuse. -
Multi‑agency working is essential
Professionals need to share information proactively and keep the child’s safety central to all decision‑making. -
Children need safe, trusted opportunities to share concerns
Trust, consistency and supportive professional relationships are critical to enabling disclosure.
Video explainers
Animation
Watch this short animation as an individual or in your teams to learn more about the key issues highlighted by our national review.
National and local reviews
National review
The analysis covered 193 children who had been sexually abused and 167 perpetrators of abuse. Over 75% of the children sexually abused by a family member were under the age of 12 and a third of incidents featured a family member with a known history of sexual offending or who was known to present some risk of sexual harm.
The key findings include:
- Children face challenges in verbally reporting their abuse so people who work with children need to spot the signs and notice when something is wrong.
- Whenever information indicates that someone in a family has a previous allegation or conviction for any type of sexual offending, this should lead to a multi-agency discussion and an up-to-date risk assessment for the children.
- When there are concerns about child sexual abuse within families, the response shouldn’t be left to the criminal justice system. Police, social workers, teachers and others need to work better together, keeping children’s best interests at the heart of all enquiries and investigations.
Local reviews
We have selected these local reviews as case studies to highlight useful learning. If you are writing a rapid review or commissioning an LCSPR about child sexual abuse, consider the learning from these published reviews as part of your work.
This case study is about a young adult who died from drug-related causes after experiencing sexual abuse by a long-term foster carer.
This case study is about a child with ADHD who shared that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather.
This case study is about a 13-year-old girl who was sexually abused by a relative who provided financial support to the family. The relative said that her parents were aware of the abuse.
Infographics and statistics
The key facts and figures you need to know about serious incidents of child sexual abuse.
Briefing papers and learning
Briefing papers
These short guides are intended to be used by individuals or teams to understand and reflect on some of the key issues raised by the national review.
This briefing paper aims to help independent scrutineers to work with safeguarding partnerships and drive improvements to address child sexual abuse within families.
A practical guide for all multi-agency practitioners to understand and respond to situations where police investigations into child sexual abuse conclude with “no further police action at this time”. It clarifies and explores the difference between criminal and safeguarding thresholds.
This briefing paper is designed to help multi-agency practitioners reflect on how race, ethnicity and culture may shape a child’s experience of sexual abuse and the support they receive.
This briefing paper aims to set out useful information for multi-agency practitioners when speaking to children about child sexual abuse.
Learning points
How do you create consistent opportunities for children to build trust, so that if they are experiencing harm, they feel safe enough to tell?
Mothers were sometimes seen as displaying being unwilling to protect their children, rather than being victims of domestic abuse who might be subject to coercive control or grooming themselves.
Do you feel equipped to recognise coercive control within a family environment and respond accordingly?
What would you do if someone in the child’s family has a previous allegation or conviction for any type of sexual offending?
Cultural stereotypes and racism can lead to failures on the part of agencies and practitioners to identify and respond appropriately to child sexual abuse. They can also make it more difficult for individuals in from Black and other minoritised communities to report child sexual abuse
How well are the specific needs of children from Black and minoritised communities understood and addressed with respect to child sexual abuse within the family environment?
What you need to know in your role
All practitioners, including those in the voluntary and community sector, have a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. In line with the Children Act 1989 and Working Together to Safeguard Children, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. While we have drawn out key learning for specific agencies, it applies to all practitioners across settings and professions.
- Don’t rely on children to verbally report their abuse and provide them with opportunities and safe spaces to share what is happening to them.
- No single agency can do this alone. All professionals need to focus on meeting the child’s needs. Ensure strategy discussions involve specialist health colleagues and education representatives and take account of their working patterns and clinical duties when scheduling the meetings.
- If appropriate, you can and should provide children with information about adults in their life who are known to present risk of potential sexual harm. This may help children make sense of what is happening to them.
- Keep children informed about ongoing police investigations or child protection enquiries or assessments. Assess whether they need to access other support, such as counselling.
- Understand the difference between criminal and safeguarding thresholds. Criminal investigations require evidence that meets the high standard of beyond reasonable doubt, meaning a realistic prospect of conviction in court. Safeguarding decisions under Section 47 use the balance of probabilities threshold, acting where there is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm. The lead practitioner (social worker) is responsible for deciding what action to take and how to proceed following Section 47 enquiries. They should make these decisions based on multi-agency discussions informed by the voice of the child.
- Use professional curiosity and appropriate challenge when a criminal case is subject to ‘No further police action at this time’. This should not be misinterpreted as ‘No safeguarding concern’.
- Children may display different signs of having been abused, including emotional, behavioural and/or physical signs. Be alert too for indicators of harm in the people around the child, or vulnerabilities in the family or environment around them.
- The CSA Centre’s Signs and Indicators Template provides a common language for professionals to discuss, record and share such concerns that a child is being, or has been, sexually abused, and to act on them.
- Request training on how to speak to children in these circumstances and how to create supportive opportunities for them to talk about their abuse. You don’t have to be an expert in child sexual abuse to help a child if you think they are at risk, or to act when you have concerns.
- If you have any concerns that a child may have been sexually abused in any way, or is at risk of sexual abuse, the appropriate response in most cases is to contact children’s social care and/or the police. Know how and when to involve the Designated Safeguarding Lead in your educational setting and make a referral to children’s social care.
- The CSA Centre created an online interactive resource, the Response Pathway, which sets out how to respond to concerns of child sexual abuse at key points: from first concerns and initial safeguarding actions through to child protection and criminal justice responses.
- Identify the signs and indicators of possible child sexual abuse (including pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in children) and making appropriate referrals for investigation of these concerns.
- Ensure suitably qualified and trained health professionals undertake paediatric forensic medical assessments.
- Check that children of all ages are able to access timely screening for sexually transmitted infection and receive follow‑up for any physical health concerns identified.
- Identify therapeutic mental health support services to provide support for the ongoing needs of children and families affected by sexual abuse.
- Request training on how to speak to children in these circumstances and how to create supportive opportunities for them to talk about their abuse and/or take part in an achieving best evidence (ABE) or a video recorded interview (VRI).
- Understand the difference between criminal and safeguarding thresholds. Criminal investigations require evidence that meets the high standard of beyond reasonable doubt, meaning a realistic prospect of conviction in court. Safeguarding decisions under Section 47 use the balance of probabilities threshold, acting where there is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm.
- Use “no further police action at this time” to clarify that the decision relates to evidential thresholds for prosecution, not safeguarding concerns. Avoid using the term “no further action” or “insufficient evidence” because it is often misinterpreted as meaning the abuse did not happen.
- Ensure there is a clear record of why the criminal investigation was closed, including the evidence considered. Share this rationale with all relevant agencies so decisions are transparent and understood.
- All those who work with children, including those in the voluntary and community sector, should be equipped with the training and skills to spot the signs of child sexual abuse.
- The CSA Centre’s Signs and Indicators Template provides a common language for professionals to discuss, record and share such concerns that a child is being, or has been, sexually abused, and to act on them.
- If you have any concerns that a child may have been sexually abused in any way, or is at risk of sexual abuse, the appropriate response in most cases is to contact children’s social care and/or the police.
- The CSA Centre created an online interactive resource, the Response Pathway, which sets out how to respond to concerns of child sexual abuse at key points: from first concerns and initial safeguarding actions through to child protection and criminal justice responses.
Webinar
This webinar took place on Wednesday 15 January 2025 to inform child protection professionals about the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s national review into child sexual abuse within the family environment.
It includes an overview of the key themes, local recommendations for safeguarding partners, and input from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse.
Slide pack
Download and adapt these slides to reflect on your local practice to safeguard children.
We encourage local safeguarding children partnerships and team leaders who work with children in different multi-agency settings to edit this resource for local use.
Further resources
Find more information and practical tools from other organisations, including: