Child sexual abuse

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health CSA information

Most of the resources here are free. There is a particular section on the Child Protection Companion which is password protected for RCPCH members only. The revised RCPCH CSA manual 'Physical signs of child sexual abuse' (2015) can only be purchased as a hard copy.

Institutional Child Sexual Abuse

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). This review is currently led by Dame Alexis Jay and covers just England and Wales but has links with similar ongoing work in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The remit of the IICSA is to examine past and present child sexual abuse (up to 18 years) which has occurred in an institutional setting and/or was reported to someone in authority. It will also look at abuse which occurred in children who were subject to migrant schemes historically or who have been trafficked to the UK. The inquiry will cover 13 institutions including Health, Education, Armed forces, Government departments, Local Authority, Police, Prisons, and the Church.

An interim report was published in April 2018.

In June 2018, the enquiry published 50 stories provided by people that had suffered from sexual abuse whilst being cared for within institutions. You can read their stories here. Health professionals are encouraged to have knowledge of this project. If patients or colleagues have been a victim or a survivor of CSA in childhood, contact can be made via their website or by emailing: share@truthproject.org.uk.

More recently in August 2020 the review published advice on helping the victims of CSA

NICE Guideline (NG55) 2016 - Harmful Sexual behaviour among children and young people

This guideline covers children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour, including those on remand or serving community or custodial sentences. It aims to ensure these problems don’t escalate and possibly lead to them being charged with a sexual offence. It also aims to ensure no one is unnecessarily referred to specialist services.