Prevention
The prevention of child sexual abuse concerns the public, professionals and politicians. Adult survivors, in particular, feel more priority should be given to protecting children.
In professional and academic discussion, prevention has focused on:
- Schools programmes, which try to help children protect themselves from abuse
- Programmes with convicted perpetrators, which try to reduce their re-offending
But there are many other forms of prevention:
- Making the public more informed, aware and observant
- Making detecting offenders a priority
- Supporting safe parenting
- Funding safe childcare
- Reducing risks in our physical environment
Different types of prevention are often described as primary, secondary and tertiary prevention
Primary Prevention
Stopping abuse happening in the first place. It’s often directed at wider populations, communities or whole groups such as parents, teachers or children. For instance schools safety programmes, the challenging of sexist attitudes about rape, and the vetting of child carers are attempts at primary prevention. So are area-based public awareness programmes – still more common in the USA than the UK.
Secondary Prevention
Not always used consistently. Sometimes, it means ways of reducing further abuse after it has taken place (see tertiary prevention). Sometimes, it means targeting groups believed to be at higher risk of abuse – offering them extra support or extra monitoring. However, until now this has more often been done in relation to risks of child physical abuse, poor care or neglect than risks of Child Sexual Abuse. For instance support/monitoring services in families with parental substance misuse, with mental illness or learning disability.
Tertiary prevention
Measures which aim to stop abuse recurring, and to reduce damaging effects of abuse in individuals or families. Some examples might be programmes directed at young people or adults who have abused others; intensive family therapy or mental health interventions; or legal measures which aim to give abused partners or children protection from contact with a perpetrator.
In practice, these categories often overlap.
Thus a schools prevention programme can encourage abused children to come forward for help. Detecting perpetrators can halt current abuse and also prevent future abuse. An adult survivor, who receives support, may feel able to report someone who is a danger to children.
The Cosgrove Report
The Scottish government has a duty to fulfil recommendation 26 of Lady Cosgrove's Report under the National Strategy:
"Consideration should be given to identifying and securing funding for risk assessment and personal change programmes for: Individuals who have admitted sexually offending behaviour but without providing sufficient information to secure a conviction, individuals who admit concerns that they may be at risk of sexual offending and convicted sex offenders who remain at risk but are not subject to statutory supervision and who require ongoing support/intervention to reduce the risk they present to the public."
The report states that a small percentage of sexual offenders are likely to serve a custodial sentence and the need to protect children and communities is paramount.
It’s therefore important to secure funding for risk assessment and personal change programmes and to prioritise early identification of, and support to, young people demonstrating sexually inappropriate or offending behaviours.
