Child Sexual Abuse
The St Helens Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) acknowledges the need for cases of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) to be recognised and addressed effectively.
The SSCP has the following aim –
“To ensure that there is recognition of child sexual abuse cases in St Helens and that from early help to statutory intervention, there should be appropriate, consistent and timely responses across all agencies”
To achieve its aim the SSCP, will seek to ensure that all partner agencies work together so that anyone who comes into contact with children and young people is able to recognise, understand and know how to respond to cases where a child or young person may be at risk of harm from CSA.
St Helens Child Sexual Abuse strategy seeks to explain;
- What is child sexual abuse and the different forms that it can take
- How agencies in St Helens recognise and respond to child sexual abuse
- What this means for people and organisations and how they exercise their duties and responsibilities to protect children and young people
The SSCP recognises that this task is particularly difficult when signs and indicators of CSA are not always easy to spot and the consequences of action or inaction may have great significance for the child, young person, their family and those involved with them.
This strategy has been created to help improve the ways in which need and risks are understood, recognised and responded to at all stages of the “child’s journey”. It is not a “stand alone” document and should be considered alongside a number of other strategies, including the CSE Strategy and Harmful Sexual Behaviour Protocol, Online safeguarding strategy and information regarding FGM. Together these reflect the many different aspects of CSA and priority concerns of organisations and professionals.
ST HELENS CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE STRATEGY 2023 - 2025
ST HELENS CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PRACTITIONERS HANDBOOK 2023 - 2025
Currently, half a million children are estimated to experience some form of sexual abuse each year, yet only about one in eight cases ever reach statutory services’ attention. We know from evidence that most sexual abuse is committed by someone the child knows and trusts. Surveys carried out in the UK find that friends and acquaintances of the child or family member are most frequently cited by victims and survivors as the person who abused.
The Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) have developed a free introductory eLearning course -Identifying and responding to intra-familial child sexual abuse – is designed to help. It is for anyone working with children to help them understand what intra-familial child sexual abuse is, provide guidance on how to identify concerns and build knowledge and confidence in how to respond to support both the children and their wider family. It was created both for those without any training on child sexual abuse, or as a helpful refresher for experienced professionals across social work, policing, education, healthcare and beyond.
To access this training please go to:
https://www.csacentre.org.uk/training/elearning/
Please continue to review the SCP training calendar as further training linked to this strategy will be provided in the coming months.