Child sexual abuse (CSA) continues to be a problem for children worldwide, with a myriad of adverse personal, familial and societal consequences.
To date, primary prevention has focused almost exclusively on child education, teaching children how to recognise, resist and report sexual advances and victimization via school-based programs. Despite widespread support, child education lacks a sound theoretical base and questions remain about its effectiveness and appropriateness. Parental involvement in prevention has been limited, with the parental role restricted to that of educator.
However, research suggests that parents, even those knowledgeable about the risks, avoid teaching their children about the specifics of sexual abuse, preferring to discuss strangers and abduction dangers. Using sexual abuse theory and the concept of situational crime prevention, I propose two pathways that parents can be protective: 1) Directly, through the creation of safer environments via supervision, monitoring and involvement, and 2) Indirectly, through child well-being, achieved through positive parenting and healthy parent-child relationships.
In this presentation I will discuss the problems of child-targeted CSA prevention and present new opportunities for prevention; with the involvement of parents as protectors, rather than educators.
| Ticket Type | Price | Cart |
|---|---|---|
| Non Member Ticket 3 November 2022 | £15.00 | |
| Members Ticket 3 November 2022 | £0.00 |
Dr Julia Rudolph recently began a research fellowship at the Institute of Lifecourse Development at Greenwich University. Julia is an expert in child sexual abuse prevention and has developed a new model for the involvement of parents in prevention. In 2020 Julia was awarded a prestigious Griffith University Post-Doctoral Fellowship to develop and pilot the Parents as Protectors Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Module. Julia has also researched adolescent symptomology (rejection-sensitivity, body dysmorphic symptoms, appearance preoccupation, depression, anxiety), adolescent peer bullying, and associations between parenting and child/adolescent symptomology. Julia has worked with children and families in statutory child protection agencies both in Australia and the UK.
I think Child Abuse Review has gone from strength to strength and is of a consistently high standard. We have held numerous events that have been inspiring and enabling, such as the most recent Congresses and the Trainer's conference and award ceremony, the seminars to disseminate lessons from Serious Case Reviews. As resources get ever tighter, professionals have fewer and fewer opportunities to come together to exchange ideas and to learn together. We move more and more into silos because of work pressures. This is not the way to keep children safe. Association of Child Protection Professionals is needed to bring people concerned about child protection together to learn, to think, to shape policy and practice and to disseminate research. No-one else does this.
