Open letter to Westminster Government: child sexual abuse policy
In response to recent political announcements around child sexual abuse, we and others were prompted to write an open letter. The letter is signed by over 60 individuals, from 13 practice and policy organisations and over 20 universities, who share a commitment to keeping all children safe. In the letter, we call for comprehensive, inclusive, evidence-informed responses to all forms of child sexual abuse, and all who experience it. Please see text of letter below (or download a copy [PDF]). Find out how to add your signature at the bottom of the page.
For media enquiries
Email: UniversityofBedfordshire@four.agency / Phone: 07384 525 256
To:
Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak MP
Rt. Hon. Suella Braverman MP, Home Secretary
Cc:
Hon. Sarah Dines MP, Minister for Safeguarding
Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Unit, Home Office
Rt. Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB, QC, MP, Leader of the Opposition
Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, Shadow Home Secretary
25 May 2023
Updated with additional signatures 15 July 2023
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We are a group of UK based researchers, practice and policy leads whose work focuses on addressing child sexual abuse. As the Westminster Government releases (IICSA), we call for evidence-informed responses, that prioritise the needs of all victims and survivors, and respond holistically to all forms of sexual abuse.
This requires targeted action on many different fronts, implemented without delay. This includes challenging the damaging ‘myths and stereotypes’ noted by IICSA and the Westminster Government itself. To this end, we urgently ask all politicians to refrain from making partial, inaccurate or divisive claims about child sexual abuse. Doing so undermines attempts to ensure policy-making is evidence-based, fair and inclusive. Many recent political announcements and accompanying media discussions have clearly fallen short in this regard, perpetuating misinformation, racism and division. Whatever the intention, stereotyping around child sexual abuse (racial or otherwise) poses considerable risks, not least to children.
The Government has stated its commitment to ‘bringing child sexual abuse out of the shadows’ and ensuring ‘we do not fail children and young people’. These are important goals and action is long overdue. To that end, we highlight key principles that should inform all policy efforts to prevent child sexual abuse, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.
Recognising the problem
The vast body of knowledge - from victims and survivors, practice and research - demonstrates that victims’ needs are best served by creating a society in which we openly confront the complex realities of child sexual abuse. Such abuse happens on an epidemic scale. Children are sexually abused across all strata of society and in every type of institution. That includes (but is not limited to) families, schools, sports and leisure clubs, care and welfare services, religious institutions, and within the criminal justice system. Prevention, early intervention and better support for victims are vital in all contexts in which child sexual abuse occurs.
Overlooking and/or misrepresenting the sheer scale and varied nature of child sexual abuse, however unintentional, is dangerous. It inhibits timely recognition, hampers effective responses and weakens the societal fabric necessary to keep children safe.
Policies which start from a basis of singling out one ‘type’ of abuse as more heinous and worthy of attention than any other are ineffective and unethical. Attempts to locate the problem of child sexual abuse (including child sexual exploitation) within a particular community, ‘type’ of perpetrator, or ‘type’ of victim, run counter to the extensive evidence base – including the Home Office’s own evidence on (so-called ‘grooming gangs’). For example, a narrow focus on the perceived targeting of white girls overlooks the equally reprehensible victimisation of boys and young men, and victims from Black and minoritised communities. Evidence also shows significantly under-recognised abuse amongst disabled children. In a similar vein, a singular focus on groups of male abusers of British-Pakistani origin draws attention away from so many other sources of harm. Whatever the intention behind these partial narratives, children will almost certainly be less safe as a result.
Responding to the problem
Extensive evidence [1] from research and inquiries - including those which centre the expertise of victims and survivors - demonstrates remarkably consistent messages about what should be priorities for policy and practice. Many of these messages are echoed in other key initiatives within the field, such as the Westminster Government’s own and the for responding to child exploitation and extra-familial harm. Future policy and resource allocation will have greater impact if grounded in these insights. This will include a focus on:
- Better identification of all forms of child sexual abuse to limit the impact and prevent further harm. This means fostering a society in which those who experience abuse feel safe and supported to tell, and where others are empowered to recognise potential signs of child sexual abuse and respond effectively. It also means challenging the silencing and stigma that is associated with such abuse, and the silencing victim-blaming narratives that often accompany this.
- Timely access, for victims and survivors, to effective long-term support to address therapeutic, advocacy and wider support needs. This should address children’s intersectional identities and associated needs, recognising how multiple forms of discrimination compound vulnerability and limit access to services. It should also extend to support for adult survivors and non-abusing family members of both victims and of those who abuse.
- A trauma-informed and responsive criminal justice system that centres victims’ and witnesses’ needs, processes cases effectively, and proactively seeks to reduce attrition.
- Appropriate education and awareness raising within schools and wider society to support children, young people and adults to recognise abusive, coercive and controlling behaviours; understand consent; recognise routes to help; and foster a society which will not harbour or tolerate abuse.
- Improving collection and use of data to inform responses. Criminal justice statistics need to be improved, whilst recognising that most abuse remains unreported. To understand the hidden picture and keep pace with rapidly changing patterns in abuse perpetration and victimisation, it is vital to invest in a regular, representative prevalence survey among children and young people.
- Improving understanding of what is effective in preventing child sexual abuse, how it works (or doesn’t) and under what circumstances. Too often, responses to child sexual abuse are reactive - coming after the harm is done. Building and acting on a stronger evidence-base around prevention would help treat child sexual abuse as the public health priority it should be.
This list, though not exhaustive, is key to better policy and practice around child sexual abuse. This Government - and any future Government committed to tackling child sexual abuse - must do better to ensure no child is unseen or left behind. That means acting on the existing evidence base, listening to the expertise of victims, survivors and professionals, and prioritising meaningful impact over short-term media cycles. Children deserve nothing less.
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Yours Sincerely,
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Dr Helen Beckett, Director, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Ella Cockbain, Associate Professor in Security and Crime Science, UCL
Dr Camille Warrington, Associate Professor, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
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Dez Holmes, Director, Research in Practice
Dr Lucie Moore, Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACES) & Visiting Research Fellow, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Diana Fawcett, Chief Executive, Victim Support
Anna Edmundson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, NSPCC
Sheila Taylor MBE, CEO, NWG Network
Patricia Durr, CEO, ECPAT UK (Every Child Protected Against Trafficking)
Victoria Green, CEO, Marie Collins Foundation & Visiting Senior Research Fellow, University of Suffolk
Kate Wareham, Strategic Director, Young People, Families & Communities, Catch22
Duncan Craig OBE, CEO, We Are Survivors & Honorary Senior Research Fellow, School of Criminology, University of Manchester
Sherry Peck, CEO, Safer London
Abi Billinghurst, Founder and CEO, Abianda
Cath Wakeman OBE, Chief Executive Officer and Trauma Therapist, Imara CIO
Rehana Faisal, Co-chair, Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACES)
Robert Balfour, Founder/CEO Survivors West Yorkshire (Bens Place) and Honorary Supervisor Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool
Sharon Martin, Chair, National IRO Managers Partnership (NIROMP)
Maggie Atkinson, Former Children's Commissioner (England); Freelance Consultant
Lucy Duckworth, VSCP/London Training Manger, The Survivors Trust
Fay Maxted OBE, Chief Executive of the Survivors Trust and member of the VCSP, IICSA
Nicky Hill, Safeguarding Consultant, Re:form Consulting
Jayne Butler, CEO, Rape Crisis England & Wales
Sophie Olson, Founder/managing director, The Flying Child CIC
Moya Woolven, CEO, Basis Yorkshire
Richard Barber, Director, Leeds Visible Project
Karen Garland, Lawyer/Child Safeguarding Specialist, HCI
May Baxter-Thornton, Marie Collins Foundation and IICSA VSCP
Chris Tuck, Former VSCP Member and Consultant to IICSA/Founder & Director of Survivors Of aBuse (SOB)
Stephanie Grimshaw, Head of Public Affairs and Communications, Welsh Women's Aid
Welsh Women's Aid, Welsh Women's Aid
Dr Elsie Whittington, Greater Manchester combined authority
Vanessa Dixon, CEO, The Birchall Trust
Nichola Williams, ISVA CYPISVA Coordinator at Horizon SV, Cyfannol Womens Aid
Lisa Lenton, CEO, S.H.E UK
Anji Hall, Clean Slate
Dianne Ludlow, Advocacy Manager, One in Four
Dr Louise Hill, Head of Policy, Evidence & Impact, Children 1st
Steve Canning, Project Director, Operation Emotion
Claire Bloor, CEO, SARSAS (Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Service)
Caroline Freeman, CEO, First Step, Leicester & Rutland
Namita Prakash, CEO, Trust House Reading
Mary Trevillion, CEO, Family Matters - Sexual Abuse & Rape Service
Mags Godderidge, CEO, Survive - Support for survivors of rape and sexual abuse
Sarah Lyles, PSHE, Wellbeing & Surrey Healthy Schools Lead, Surrey County Council
Emma Lewis MBE, Victim and survivor consultative panel member, Previously IICSA
Rachel W, Managing Director, Animal Assisted Therapy for young people
Dr Craig Barlow, Independent Forensic Social Worker and Criminologist, Craig Barlow Consultancy & Training
Carolyn Webster, CEO, CLEAR Emotional Trauma and Therapy Specialists
Patsy Johnson-Cisse, Managing Director, Brave Futures
Deborah Denis, Chief Executive, Lucy Faithfull Foundation
Sara James, Service Manager for Quality Outcomes for Children and Families, Wiltshire Council
Julia Carver, Head of Strategy and Development, Safety Net (UK)
Sarah Pritchard, Consultant social worker and trainer, Barnardo’s
Lisa Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Rape & Service Violence Project (RSVP)
Peter E Saunders, Founder of NAPAC. Author of The Truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth….so help me.
Catherine Bedford, Safeguarding Specialist
Anna Racher, Co-author of multi-agency Practice Principles responding to child exploitation and extra familial harm
Poppy Eyre, Ambassador for Family Matters UK
Dr Grace Robinson, Founder and CEO, Black Box Research and Consultancy
Lynne Sanders, CEO, Swansea Women's Aid
Dr Sara Scott, Director, DMSS Research
Fiona Ellis OBE, Co- founder & CEO, Survivors in Transition; PhD Student & Visiting Fellow Institute Social Justice & Crime University of Suffolk
Dr Sarah Lloyd, Trainer and Researcher
Adrian Phillip, IBM
Frida* (*not her real name), Survivor of child sexual abuse & NSPCC Real Life Story Volunteer
Bronwen schewitz, Survivor of CSE
Bernice Giggins, Internal Communications Manager & Survivor
Rampaul Chamba
Elle Aburrow
Lois Ainger
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Professor Nasreen Ali, Professor of Public Health Equality, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Katherine Allen, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Social Justice and Crime, University of Suffolk
Professor Felia Allum, University of Bath
Professor Rachel Armitage, Professor of Criminology, University of Huddersfield
Dr Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Everyday Disasters and Violences Research Group Lead, UCL
Professor Christine Barter, Co-Director, Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm, School of Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire
Professor Claudia Bernard, Goldsmiths, University of London
Safina Bi, PhD Researcher, University of Birmingham
Dr Lisa Bostock, Principal Research Fellow, Institute of Applied Social Research, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr. Silvie Bovarnick, Visiting Research Fellow, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Rose Broad, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Manchester
Dr Isabelle Brodie, Principal Lecturer, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Kate Brown, Senior Lecturer, University of York
Professor Sarah Brown, Visiting Fellow, University of the West of England
Dr Sangeeta Chatterji, Lecturer, Social Work, University of Edinburgh
Pinar Celik Chippari, Phd student, Queens University Belfast
Professor Christine Cocker, Head of School of Social Work, University of East Anglia
Dr Claire Cody, Senior Research Fellow, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Stephen Cowden, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Gloucestershire
Professor John Devaney, Chair of Social Work, University of Edinburgh
Dr Sukhwant Dhaliwal, Course Leader, Woman and Child Abuse programme, London Metropolitan University
Dr Katie Ellis, Senior Lecturer in Child Welfare, University of Sheffield
Dr Fiona Factor, School Enhancement Lead & Academic Portfolio Lead (PG), School of Applied Social Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Elizabeth A. Faulkner, Lecturer in Law, Keele University
Professor Carlene Firmin MBE, Professor of Social Work, Durham University
Professor Anita Franklin, Professor of Childhood Studies, University of Portsmouth
Professor Deborah Fry, Director of Data for Childlight – Global Child Safety Institute, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh
Professor David Gadd, Professor of Criminology, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester
Pippa Goodfellow, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Fiona Vera Gray, Deputy Director, The Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University
Dr Sophie Hallett, Senior Lecturer (Social Policy), Cardiff University & Reader in the Prevention of Interpersonal Harm, Connect Centre, University of Central Lancashire
Megan Hermolle, Research Fellow, University of Suffolk
Dr Kristine Hickle, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Sussex
Tanya Horeck, Professor, Anglia Ruskin University
Professor Miranda Horvath, Director of the Institute for Social Justice and Crime, University of Suffolk
Dr Nathalie Huegler, School of Social Work and Social Care, University of Sussex
Professor Patricia Hynes, Professor of Social Justice, Helena Kennedy Centre, Sheffield Hallam University
Professor Liz Kelly, Director, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University
Joseph Kiff, Research Fellow, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Juliane Kloess, Lecturer in Forensic Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh
Dr Aravinda Kosaraju, Lecturer in Child Protection, University of Kent
Professor Michelle Lefevre, Director of the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth, University of Sussex
Dr Jenny Lloyd, Assistant Professor, Durham University
Professor Samantha Lundigan, Director of the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region (PIER), Anglia Ruskin University
Stacey Maher, Doctoral Researcher, University of Huddersfield & Child Sexual Abuse Practitioner and Advocate
Dr Gary Manders, Senior Lecturer, School of Applied Social Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Nicholas Marsh, Social Worker & PhD Researcher, University of East London
Dr Elena Martellozzo, Associate Professor in Criminology, Middlesex University
Dr Franziska Meinck, Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh
Hannah Millar, Research Assistant, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr Mary Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Edinburgh
Dr Fiona Morrison, Lecturer in Childhood Studies, University of Edinburgh
Dr. Carole Murphy, Director, Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse Abuse, St Mary's University
Alexandra Myers, Doctoral Researcher, University of Huddersfield
Dr Rachael Owens, Assistant Professor (Research), Durham University
Professor Jenny Pearce OBE, Professor of Young People and Public Policy, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Keith Pringle, Professor Emeritus in Sociology with s specialism in social work work, Uppsala University
David Porteous, Associate Professor (Criminology), Middlesex University
Professor Ethel Quayle CBE, Professor of Forensic Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh
Dr Theresa Redmond, Dawes Senior Research Fellow, the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region (PIER), Anglia Ruskin University
Professor Jessica Ringrose, Co-Director Centre for Sociology of Education and Equity, University College London
Julia Rudolph, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Greenwich
Dr Tina Salter, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Dr. Mia Scally, Lecturer in Forensic Psychology - Forensic Criminology, Middlesex University
Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, Emeritus Fellow, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University & Founder and CEO, Surviving Economic Abuse
Claire Soares, Research Fellow, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Professor Sundari Anitha, Professor of Gender, Violence and Work, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln
Professor Ravi K. Thiara, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick
Dr Roma Thomas, Principal Lecturer, School of Applied Social Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Professor Kay Tisdall, Professor of Childhood Policy, University of Edinburgh
Dr Waqas Tufail, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Leeds Beckett University
Joanne Walker, Assistant Professor, Durham University
Camille Waring, Researcher & Academic, University of Westminster
Dr Jo Woodiwiss, Reader in Sociology and Youth Studies, University of Huddersfield
Professor Richard Wortley, Jill Dando Institute of Security & Crime Science, University College London
Dr Lauren Wroe, Assistant Professor (Research), Department of Sociology, Durham University
Alice Yeo, Senior Research Fellow, Safer Young Lives Research Centre, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
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[1] See for example the extensive research evidence reviewed within the following documents: i) ; ii) ; iii) ; iv) ; v) ; vi) Child sexual exploitation: Definition & Guide for Professionals.
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We are aware that following publication of this letter there may be others who wish to sign. If you would like your name added to this as a signatory, please complete the contact form below before the 23rd June 2023. After this date we will add verified signatures and re-publish an updated letter.
In the meantime, we encourage you to use and share this letter as you find helpful. We hope it helps in supporting efforts to enable better responses to child sexual abuse in all its forms.
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address
Safer Young Lives Research Centre
Institute of Applied Social Research
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