By Heather Wolbers, Hayley Boxall and Anthony Morgan

Drawing on a large sample of female carers living in Australia (n=3,775), this study aims to document and explore children and young people’s experiences of abuse in the past 12 months. We focus on children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated against their female carers, as well as children being the target of direct physical and emotional abuse themselves.

Overall, a significant proportion of respondents who had a child in their care during the past 12 months said that a child was exposed to IPV perpetrated against them (14.1%). One in nine said a child in their care had been the target of direct abuse perpetrated by their current or most recent former partner (11.5%). Critically, one-third of respondents who experienced IPV said a child was exposed to the violence at least once in the past 12 months (34.8%).

A number of factors were associated with an increased likelihood of children being subjected to direct abuse. These included the characteristics of respondents and their relationships, children and households. We also present evidence linking economic factors, including changes in employment, with the direct abuse of children.

Research Report no. 26. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2023. 72p.

By Savannah Minihan, Melanie Burton, Mariesa Nicholas, Kylie Trengove, Sarah Napier and Rick Brown

This study examines the prevalence of requests for facilitated child sexual exploitation (CSE) online. Of 4,011 Australians surveyed, 2.8 percent had received a request for facilitated CSE in the past year. Requests for facilitated CSE were significantly higher among those who had shared a photo of or information about children publicly online. Among respondents who had shared publicly, requests for facilitated CSE were significantly higher among men, younger individuals, linguistically diverse individuals, individuals with disability, and those who had experienced other sexual or violent harms online. The results highlight the need for increased awareness of the potential harms of posting photos of and information about children publicly online, and place onus on platforms to warn users of these potential harms.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 692. . Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2024.

By Kathleen Foley SC Chair, et al.

The Board of Inquiry has found that the Department woefully failed to protect children from the risk of child sexual abuse at Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools between 1960 and 1994. The failings were serious and systemic and put many children at risk of sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse is abhorrent. It can have life-long effects for victim-survivors. It can affect people’s mental health and well-being, relationships, and education and employment outcomes in ways that are profound and enduring. For some people, the weight of trauma can be too heavy to bear, and their loss causes deep grief for those left behind. The impacts are not confined to victim-survivors but extend to their loved ones, those who witnessed the child sexual abuse, and the broader community.

Despite the challenges, healing is possible. The Board of Inquiry heard about many experiences of personal healing from victim-survivors and their families — examples of courage and examples of hope. There were also many experiences shared about difficulties in finding the right help when it was desperately needed. It is important to understand the factors that contribute to healing and recovery, so that healing and recovery are within reach of all who need it.

The Board of Inquiry has examined the past to identify and understand historical wrongs. In addition, examining the past enables the broader community to move forward. By understanding where the education system failed, we can also better understand how to prevent further child sexual abuse occurring in government schools.

The report comprises six parts:

• The preliminary material contains, in addition to this executive summary, the official documents connected to the delivery of the report, and a message from the Chair.

• Part A, The Board of Inquiry, describes the establishment of the Board of Inquiry, explains how it approached its work, and contains important information concerning how it interpreted and applied the Terms of Reference.

• Part B, Experience, places children’s safety in context by describing relevant policy settings and social and cultural factors present in communities between 1960 and 1999, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, before documenting experiences of child sexual abuse and its impacts from the perspective of victim-survivors. This Part also includes 15 narratives from victim-survivors, secondary victims and affected community members in which they recall their experiences, in their own words.

• Part C, Accountability, describes the education system between 1960 and 1999. It includes the narratives of four of the relevant employees who were examined in depth by the Board of Inquiry, explores concepts of grooming and disclosure, and outlines various system failings by the Department at that time. It then describes how child safety settings within government schools have since improved.

• Part D, Healing, support and the future, describes the factors that promote recovery from child sexual abuse and the support services currently available to victim-survivors of historical child sexual abuse in government schools. It then explores barriers to effective support and how they could be addressed as part of an overall approach to healing. This Part includes the Board of Inquiry’s recommendations for the Victorian Government and the Department to support healing and address barriers to effective support. While these recommendations are drawn from the entirety of the Board of Inquiry’s work, they are particularly directed to the ‘healing’ and ‘support services’ aspects of the Terms of Reference.

• Part E, Appendices, contains a range of documents to assist and inform readers.

Melbourne: Government of Victoria, 2024. 466p.

By The International Justice Mission

The UK Government is among the world leaders in combatting various forms of OSEC both at home and abroad. Some of those significant contributions include: • Launching the WePROTECT Global Alliance; • Providing, through the National Crime Agency (NCA), equipment, training, case referrals, and other partnership to Philippine law enforcement as a founding member of the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC); • Investing £40 million in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children; • Safeguarding 8,329 children and arresting 7,212 perpetrators in relation to online child sexual abuse (during a 12-month period ending March 2020); and • Sponsoring the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and publishing the Online Harms White Paper.6 Through this report, IJM aims to provide OSEC and CSEM offender case studies, analyses, and recommendations relevant to the UK’s already robust efforts to end online child sexual abuse and exploitation, including through the NCA and local police units. IJM seeks to provide the perspective of an NGO with experience dating to 2011 working “in the trenches” with Philippine Government, international law enforcement, and NGO partners, to support investigations, prosecutions, and social service delivery to survivors of livestreamed child sexual abuse and exploitation in the Philippines. IJM’s Composite Case Review found a trend of low sentences for UK offenders who paid for, directed, and consumed live sexual abuse and exploitation of Filipino children. These are not image offenders—they are remote abusers and exploiters fuelling modern slavery. An offence’s gravity is often reflected in the maximum penalty a government prescribes through legislation. UK laws against OSEC offending are serious, holding maximum penalties of 10 to 14 years imprisonment. Yet, while most of the offenders in this Review were convicted of multiple counts of serious offences, they each received a sentence less than half the maximum sentence for one count.

International Justice Mission, 2020. 72p.

By Debra Allnock with Lisa Bunting, Avril Price, Natalie Morgan-Klein, Jane Ellis, Lorraine Radford and Anne Stafford

Worldwide it has been estimated that 160 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 years of age have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact (Pinheiro, 2006, p12). In the UK the true prevalence of sexual violence against children and young people is not known, but a recent review published in The Lancet estimated that between 5 and 10 per cent of girls and 5 per cent of boys have experienced penetrative sexual abuse and up to three times this number have been exposed to other forms of sexual violence (Gilbert et al, 2008). …This research, generously funded by the Private Equity Foundation and the Children’s Charity, aimed to address a gap in our knowledge by mapping the availability of therapeutic services to support children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse across the United Kingdom.

London: NSPCC, 2009. 171p.

By Anita Franklin, Louise Bradley and Geraldine Brady

This report sets out the findings from a study commissioned by the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre),as part of a suite of work to expand the evidence base on how best to assess the effectiveness of services responding to child sexual abuse (CSA). Research has shown that children and young people who are in care or leaving care, and those who have learning difficulties, are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. Establishing what works in terms of interventions for these groups is a research priority for the CSA Centre; accordingly, Coventry University was commissioned to undertake interviews with a sample of 10 young people with learning difficulties, and a further 10 young people with experience of being in care, who had accessed CSA support services. The sample of young people was identified and recruited by CSA services across England and Wales. Those who were in or had left care included those in foster care, kinship care, supported accommodation and residential care. The young people identified by CSA services as having learning difficulties included some with autism, Asperger’s or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); others who needed significant support at school; and some who had learning needs associated with their trauma.

Ilford, UK: Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, 2019. 40p.

By Diana Parkinson and Rosaline Sullivan

This report forms part of a suite of work undertaken by the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) to expand the evidence base on how best to assess the effectiveness of services responding to child sexual abuse (CSA). It sets out the findings from an online survey of service providers, which was sent out to more than 300 contacts in the sector and shared through social media. The survey questionnaire was completed by 50 organisations across England and Wales that: ‣ provided specific support to children/ young people at risk of CSA or who had experienced/were experiencing CSA, or ‣ specifically targeted CSA, including child sexual exploitation (CSE), perhaps alongside wider services. While these were a self-selected group and cannot be regarded as representative of organisations working in the field of CSA, the information they provided has widened our knowledge of the services that are delivered, the children and young people who are being reached, the aspects of service delivery that providers consider to be most effective, and the challenges they face.

Ilford, UK: Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, 2019. 40p.

By Di McNeish, Liz Kelly and Sara Scott

This report sets out the findings from a knowledge review commissioned by the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (the CSA Centre), as part of a suite of work to expand the evidence base on how best to assess the effectiveness of services responding to child sexual abuse (CSA). The review was undertaken by DMSS Research in partnership with the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit, London Metropolitan University, between July and December 2018. It involved four phases: ‣ a rapid review of the literature, to highlight what published evidence does and does not tell us about service provision, and to establish what evaluations had already been conducted in this field ‣ ‘key informant’ interviews with 13 individuals identified for their practice and research experience and expertise ‣ three focus groups bringing together practitioners, policymakers and commissioners ‣ site visits to 12 CSA services across England and Wales, which incorporated interviews with managers and staff (either individually or in groups) and with 12 young people who had used the services. Drawing on this work, the report outlines the current landscape of service provision, identifies core elements of effective practice in the field, and outlines the implications for the feasibility of multi-service evaluation

Ilford, UK: Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, 2019. 40p.

By Michael Skidmore, Beth Aitkenhead and Rick Muir

The internet has enabled the production and consumption of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on an industrial scale. It has also created new opportunities for adults to sexually abuse and exploit children. The volume of online child sexual abuse offences is now so great that it has simply overwhelmed the ability of law enforcement agencies, internationally, to respond. However, there is nothing pre-determined about this situation. Public policy can make a difference. This report looks at what can be done to help “turn the tide” on online Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). It does this by first describing the scale and nature of online CSA, second, assessing the ability of the police and law enforcement to investigate these crimes, third, by examining the service provided to victims of online CSA and, finally by looking at what more can be done to prevent online CSA in the first place.

London: The Police Foundation UK, 2022. 95p.

By Kairika Karsna and Rabiya Majeed-Ariss

This report brings together evidence collected from the case files of children and young people aged 0–17 attending Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Greater Manchester for a forensic medical examination following disclosure or suspicion of sexual abuse. The data relates to all 986 forensic medical examinations of under-18s living in the Greater Manchester area who accessed the service between April 2012 and March 2015

Barkingside, UK: Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA Centre), 2019. 44p.

By The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Truth Project enables victims and survivors to share their experiences with a member of the Inquiry in a safe environment. This report shares 50 anonymised accounts of child sexual abuse which were shared with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse by survivors participating in the Truth Project. The experiences describe sexual abuse perpetrated by adults from a variety of backgrounds. The Inquiry’s Truth Project has heard from over 1,000 victims and survivors, and is helping the Inquiry to understand more about the circumstances in which the sexual abuse of children can occur.

London: Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, 2018. 96p

By The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

This report considers some of the accounts of victims and survivors taking part in the Truth Project, one of three strands of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken their responsibility to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales seriously. It looks at participants’ experiences of child sexual abuse, as well as its short and longer-term impacts including on socio-economic outcomes and intimate relationships. The report also draws together statistical data from 249 Truth Project sessions that took place between June 2016 and June 2017, to provide a profile of participants attending, including their ethnicity, age, and disability status. Sections cover: participants’ experiences of child sexual abuse, Perpetrators and institutions; Disclosure, identification of child sexual abuse; Impacts of child sexual abuse and coping strategies; and experiences of statutory and voluntary support services such as counselling, psychological therapies and formalised peer support services. It also presents participant proposals for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse. These included the need to support children in making a disclosure and to provide children in care with support and stability in care placements

London: Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, 2017. 154p.

By The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse in Collaboration with the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies, Middlesex University

This report presents a new typology of child sexual abuse (CSA) offending, which has been developed through research led by the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies (CATS) at Middlesex University and the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (the CSA Centre) over the last 18 months. The research aimed to develop a typology of CSA offending by focusing on the context of offending and drawing out types that reflect different patterns of offending, rather than by focusing on the characteristics of the perpetrator or the victim. The typology therefore seeks to present a fuller representation of CSA offending, including online and contact abuse, enabling us to view CSA in a new light and making it possible to identify connections between different types of offending that might otherwise be missed.

Ilford, UK: Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, 2020. 32p.

By Hannah Ford

Until recently, the topic of female sexual offenders remained under-researched, and many incorrect assumptions and beliefs still surround the subject. This book is organised in to five parts around eleven chapters. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research in this often overlooked area and discusses both adult female offenders and adolescents/younger children who commit sexual offences against children. After an in-depth evaluation of research literature, the author then considers a range of treatment approaches and directions for future research.

Chichester, UK: Wiley, 2004. 206p.

By Nancy Whittier

The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse is the first study of activism against child sexual abuse, tracing its emergence in feminist anti-rape efforts, its development into mainstream self-help, and its entry into mass media and public policy. Nancy Whittier deftly charts the development of the movement's "therapeutic politics," demonstrating that activists viewed tactics for changing emotions and one's sense of self as necessary for widespread social change and combined them with efforts to change institutions and the state. Though activism originated with feminists, the movement grew and spread to include the goals of non-feminist survivors, opponents, therapists, law enforcement, and elected officials. In the process, the movement both succeeded beyond its wildest dreams and saw its agenda transformed in ways that were sometimes unrecognizable. A moving account, The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse draws powerful lessons about the transformative potential of therapeutic politics, their connection to institutions, and the processes of incomplete social change that characterize American politics today

Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2009. 273p.

By Suzanne Ost

Child pornography and sexual grooming provide case study exemplars of problems that society and law have sought to tackle to avoid both actual and potential harm to children. Yet despite the considerable legal, political and societal concern that these critical phenomena attract, they have not, thus far, been subjected to detailed socio-legal and theoretical scrutiny. How do society and law construct the harms of child pornography and grooming? What impact do constructions of the child have upon legal and societal responses to these phenomena? What has been the impetus behind the expanding criminalisation of behaviour in these areas? Suzanne Ost addresses these and other important questions, exploring the critical tensions within legal and social discourses which must be tackled to discourage moral panic reactions towards child pornography and grooming, and advocating a new, more rational approach towards combating these forms of exploitation.

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 289p.

Edited by Jérôme Ballet , Augendra Bhukuth

This edited volume examines child exploitation in the Global South. It introduces several case studies and interviews articulated around two features: exploitation within the family and exploitation in relation to social contexts. The research shows that both of the features are linked and, generally, they are not separate. It makes several important arguments which challenge the most common view on how children are perceived and exploited in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Additionally, it explores the social representation of exploited children as well as their general well-being.

Cham, SWIT: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 221p.

By Julia C. Davidson

Child Sexual Abuse critically evaluates the development of policy and legislative measures to control sex offenders. The last fifteen years has seen increasing concern on the part of the government, criminal justice agencies, the media and the public, regarding child sexual abuse. This concern has been prompted by a series of events including cases inviting media attention and involving the abduction, sexual abuse and murder of young children. The response to this wave of child sexual abuse revelation has been to introduce increasingly punitive legislation regarding the punishment and control of sex offenders (sex offenders are the only group of offenders in British legal history to have their own act), both in custody and in the community. But this response, it is argued here, has developed in a reactionary way to media and public anxiety regarding the punishment and control of sex offenders (who have abused children) and the perceived threat of such offenders in the community.

Abington, Oxon, UK: New York: Routledge-Cavendish, 2008. 193p.

By Ben Mathews

This book offers a timely and detailed exploration and analysis of key contemporary issues and challenges in child sexual abuse, which holds great relevance for scholarly, legal, policy, professional and clinical audiences worldwide. The book draws together the best current evidence about the nature, aetiology, contexts, and sequelae of child sexual abuse. It explores the optimal definition of child sexual abuse, considers sexual abuse in history, and explores new theoretical understandings of children’s rights and other key theories including public health and the Capabilities Approach, and their relevance to child sexual abuse prevention and responses. It examines a selection of the most pressing legal, theoretical, policy and practical challenges in child sexual abuse in the modern world, in developed and developing economies, including institutional child sexual abuse, female genital cutting, child marriage, the use of technology for sexual abuse, and the ethical responsibility and legal liability of major state and religious organisations, and individuals. It examines recent landmark legal and policy developments in all of these areas, drawing in particular on extensive developments from Australia in the wake of its Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It also considers the best evidence about promising strategies and future promising directions in enhancing effective prevention, intervention and responses to child sexual abuse.

Cham, SWIT: Springer, 2019. 322p.

By Jo Woodiwiss

Set against the background of the recovered memory wars, this book explores women’s engagement with narratives of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), recovery and therapeutic discourses and the role they themselves play in the construction and use of abuse narratives whether they have, by their own definition, continuous, recovered or false memories. These are the women whose voices have been largely absent from the debates around recovery and the recovered memory wars and who are mostly constructed as weak, vulnerable and at the mercy of misguided therapists or the ongoing effects of abuse. This is not a book about childhood sexual abuse. Nor is it a book on the recovered memory wars, or on memory. It is also not a general book about therapeutic or self-help culture. Yet these themes do form part of the background against which the research for this book was carried out. They also form part of the background against which women engage in the ongoing process of (re)constructing their own narratives of childhood sexual abuse.

Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 252p.