Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)

Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) is developmentally inappropriate sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people which is harmful or abusive.

Development in technology and social media has led to an increased prevalence in technology-assisted harmful sexual behaviours. Examples of this include:

• Sharing indecent images
• Developmentally inappropriate use of pornography
• Sextortion - Forcing somebody to do something by threatening to publish sexual material about them

Technology is likely to feature in harmful sexual behaviours between peers.

The CSA Centre have produced a guide which provides practical support for those in education settings to respond to children’s needs and safety when incidents of harmful sexual behaviour occur. The Guide looks at key actions for a school when an incident of harmful sexual behaviour has occurred, including a safety plan template for recording and reviewing arrangements, as well as broader practical advice such as how to communicate with children, and their parents. 

It’s important to be able to distinguish developmentally typical sexual behaviours from those that may be problematic or harmful, and make sure children get appropriate support. The Hackett continuum is a tool to support objective decision making about a child or young person’s sexual behaviour.

The NSPCC website has examples of what typical sexual behaviours young people exhibit at different stages of their sexual development.

What to consider when working with Harmful Sexual Behaviour:

• What the sexual behaviours are, patterns or escalation and whether they are spontaneous or planned.
• The potential cause - An understanding of the young person’s early life experiences, current life experiences, individual factors.
• Where the behaviour is happening - At home, school, in the community, on the school bus, at parties, in the presence of others.
• Patterns of sexual behaviour – Understanding any patterns to the young person’s sexual behaviour will help when you are thinking about risk management.
• Power differentials - This difference can be physical, emotional, intellectual, or due to social position.
• Age differentials.
• Characteristics of age, sex or vulnerability that may indicate a target group which may indicate abuse.
• Attempts to secure secrecy.
• Consent – Any sexual behaviour where a person does not “fully consent” or agree can be seen as abusive. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, a child under the age of 13 cannot give consent to sexual activity.

A Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) was undertaken between September 2018 and May 2019 looking into the multi-agency response to child sexual abuse in the family environment.

One of the key findings was that when children have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, often it is solely their behaviour, not the cause, that professionals respond to. It also found that professionals rely too heavily on children to verbally disclose, and Children and non-perpetrating parents and family members are not supported well enough.

One Minute Guide giving advice on how to have difficult conversations with children.

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation have produced a Harmful Sexual Behaviour Prevention Toolkit, designed for parents, carers, family members and professionals. The toolkit contains links to useful information, resources, and support as well as practical tips to prevent harmful sexual behaviour and provide safe environments for families.