A preventative approach to child sexual abuse

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A new report reveals the success of early-intervention measures in helping to prevent child sexual abuse.

The Stop it Now! helpline report 2005-2009 shows a steady increase in the number of adults making the call for confidential support and advice around child sexual abuse.

Stop it Now! UK and Ireland is a campaign, run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, to raise awareness of child sexual abuse amongst adults, whether they are worried about their own behaviour, or that of a child or guardian.

The idea was born from Fran Henry, who founded Stop it Now! in America in 1992. Troubled by her own experience of child sexual abuse; she wanted to arm adults with the information of what to look out for, rather than leaving it to the child to protect themselves.

Speaking at the report launch, Baroness Howarth, former chief executive of ChildLine, commended Stop it Now! in working to achieve this goal. "We had to unlock that silence in adults and get adults to take the responsibility that for so long has been placed on the shoulders of children," she said.

Although Stop it Now! has seen recent successes, it would like to reach a far greater number of people via the helpline.

Donald Findlater, director of Stop it Now! UK and Ireland spoke of the life-changing difference the helpline has made to people. But he also mentioned how callers often say, "I wish I had heard about you sooner."

Child sexual abuse is never an easy subject to address, and the confidential helpline often faces criticism, yet Findlater was adamant that a pre-emptive approach to child sexual abuse is necessary, because the police aren't aware of, or involved in, the majority of cases of child sexual abuse.

"What would you want those people to do who were worried about themselves, or worried about a husband, or worried about their child's sexual behaviour, and there is no police officer, no social worker, no agency involved with them?” he asked. “Do we say wait until you get caught, until the agencies are involved, or do we say there are things you can do today?"

Rather than trying to patch up child sexual abuse once it has happened, Stop it Now! works to try and prevent it from happening in the first place.

Of all the people calling the helpline, Findlater noted his sadness at the small volume of calls coming from parents and guardians registering concern about a child's behaviour, especially as around a third of convictions and cautions for child sexual abuse in the UK are against a child or young person.

Alice Newman, helpline practice manager at Stop it Now!, told the story of James, whose 12 year-old son had inappropriately touched an eight year-old girl at a party.

What would have been an even more distressing period of James' life was made easier by being able to seek help from experts at the helpline.

Quoting from James, Alice said, "I learnt that my son's behaviour was not that of a monster but of a young lad going through puberty, albeit that the behaviour was wrong and needed to be dealt with. It became clear that this type of behaviour was not that unusual, but an educated approach was needed to deal with it."

Police and social workers are increasingly recommending the helpline to convicted sex offenders who are struggling with their feelings, as a place they can seek help and guidance.

Claire Wiggins, head of the sexual and violent offender section of the National Offender Management Service's (NOMS) public protection and mental health group, reiterated the importance of the helpline as a preventative measure.

"At NOMS we only work with people who are convicted offenders and our interventions only start once the sentence has been imposed.

"Stop it Now! is not about being soft on sex offenders, or being nice to sex offenders, but it is about working in a manner that is most likely to be effective in achieving change and protecting future and current victims," she said.