Support service launches to tackle harmful sexual behaviour in children
Nina Jacobs
Monday, January 17, 2022
A support service has been launched to help education and safeguarding professionals tackle incidents of harmful sexual behaviour among children and young people.
The government-funded initiative, co-ordinated by charities SWGfl and the Marie Collins Foundation, will provide advice to professionals working with children in England if they encounter inappropriate sexual behaviour in their workplace.
Harmful sexual behaviour is characterised by developmentally inappropriate sexual conduct displayed by children and young people under the age of 18 and which may be harmful or abusive. It can be carried out towards young children, peers, older children or adults.
The new service will offer telephone and email support from Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, for those working in education and safeguarding roles, ranging from early years to further education settings.
Police, social workers and health practitioners will also be able to access the support which aims to help professionals to better address the “alarming normalisation” of harmful sexual behaviour in children both in-person and online, the charities say.
Advice will be given on individual cases or incidents of harmful sexual behaviour to ensure an appropriate response both for children displaying such behaviour and others affected by it, they explain.
The service will also provide guidance on policy development on tackling sexual harmful behaviour and share resources and best practice around this area both locally and nationally, the charities add.
The introduction of the service follows an Ofsted review last year, commissioned by the government, during which more than 900 children and young people were surveyed about their own experiences of sexual abuse in schools and colleges.
It revealed a prevalence of child-on-child sexual harassment and abuse that had become widespread and “so commonplace” that many school-age children did not see any point in reporting incidents when they happened.
Nearly 70 per cent of girls and more than a quarter of boys interviewed said they felt pressured into sexual activity they felt uncomfortable with.
Meanwhile, almost 90 per cent of girls and 50 per cent of boys said they had been sent explicit pictures or videos of images they did not want to see.
Many children said they had also received unwanted or inappropriate sexual comments.
Safeguarding minister Rachel Maclean said the government was committed to ensuring professionals were fully equipped to deal with sexual abuse and harassment.
“This new service will ensure expert-led advice and guidance is easily accessible and the response to harmful sexual behaviour will be significantly strengthened,” she said.
Carmel Glassbrook, lead for harmful sexual behaviour support at SWGfl, said a widespread cultural shift was needed to de-normalise actions and language that damaged the lives of young people involved.
“We know that the majority of the children’s workforce is under-equipped to address the growing issue and help the young people affected, so this service is there to provide them with vital professional guidance and tools they need,” she said.
Lawrence Jordan, training and development manager at Marie Collins Foundation, said recognising the scale of sexual abuse and harassment in schools and colleges meant frontline professionals needed as much support as possible.
“The impact of this cannot be underestimated and our work has highlighted the importance of knowing how to respond to this issue to ensure that no further harm is done to the child,” he said.
