Preventing child sexual abuse in Caerphilly

18 March 2010

A course designed to help parents, carers and guardians protect children from sexual abuse is underway in Caerphilly.

The course, administered by Stop it Now! Wales and supported by the Caerphilly Parent Network, will run over a five-week period and will allow those taking part to learn about the signs of child sexual abuse, gain confidence to act upon any concerns they have and help them to develop preventative strategies that help to protect children.

Stop it Now! Wales campaign manager Rebecca Wasinski said: "Child sexual abuse affects more children than anyone would like to imagine and it's vital we all know what we can do to help protect children. It's not an easy subject for people to talk about. But, talking about it is essential if we are to address the problem."

The course has a number of aims, including helping people to:- understand some of the barriers to identifying and preventing abuse and how to overcome them; understand abuser behaviour and why people sexually abuse children; become familiar with behaviours and indicators of sexual abuse and implement practical strategies that help prevent abuse from taking place.

The course also covers how the internet can put children and young people at risk. Something Sian Northey, Caerphilly Parent Network Assistant, says is extremely important. "Many parents see the internet as a threat and do have concerns about what their children do online. This course shows them how they can help mitigate some of those risks," she said.

This is the second course to be supported by the Parent Network and Sian says the organisation is delighted to be involved in such an important subject. "We did see some reluctance from parents to be involved with the course as it's a subject they didn't know how to handle and didn't want to be involved with. But those who have come forward gave really positive feedback. In addition to learning about child sexual abuse, some found it opened other doors and gave them the confidence to talk with their children about a host of sensitive issues such as privacy, trust, sex and relationships."

The Stop it Now! campaign has been running in Wales since April 2009. The campaign aims to prevent child sexual abuse through awareness raising and education. The campaign also operates a free phone confidential helpline – 0808 1000 900 – which people can call for advice and information.

"Our message is simple," said Rebecca Wasinski. "Child sexual abuse is preventable, not inevitable – and there are things we can all do to stop it."

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