Child Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities. It includes contact and non-contact abuse. The abusive sexual activity may involve trickery, coercion, threats, and aggression, together with secrecy. Child Sexual Abuse can happen anywhere – and it can happen in person or online.

Contact abuse involves touching activities where an abuser makes physical contact with a child, including penetration. It includes:

  • Sexual touching of any part of the body whether the child is wearing clothes or not.
  • Rape or penetration by putting an object or body part inside a child's mouth, vagina or anus.
  • Forcing or encouraging a child to take part in sexual activity.
  • Making a child take their clothes off, touch someone else's genitals or masturbate.

Non-contact abuse involves non-touching activities, such as grooming, exploitation, persuading children to perform sexual acts over the internet and flashing. It includes:

  • Encouraging a child to watch or hear sexual acts.
  • Not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activities by others.
  • Meeting a child following sexual grooming with the intent of abusing them.
  • Online abuse including making, viewing or distributing child abuse images.
  • Allowing someone else to make, view or distribute child abuse images.
  • Showing pornography to a child.
  • Sexually exploiting a child for money, power or status (child exploitation).

Child Sexual Abuse may not necessarily involve a high level of violence and the child or young person may not be aware of what is happening, or that it is wrong. They might be afraid to tell someone and to speak out. It is never a child's fault they were sexually abused – it is important to make sure children know this.

Knowing the signs of sexual abuse can help give a voice to children. Some of the signs you might notice may include the child/young person:

  • Avoiding being alone with or frightened of people or a person they know.
  • Language or sexual behaviour you would not expect them to know.
  • Having nightmares or bed-wetting.
  • Sudden mood changes and/or frequent crying.
  • Becoming withdrawn, quiet, emotionally flat and disinterested and isolated.
  • Becoming hyperactive and/or aggressive.
  • School problems – poor attendance and/or poor school work.
  • Alcohol or drug misuse.
  • Self-harm.
  • Changes in eating habits or developing an eating problem.
  • Bruises.
  • Bleeding, discharge, pains or soreness in their genital or anal area.
  • Sexually transmitted infections.
  • Pregnancy.

Some children show none of these signs.

WSP recognise that we need to do more to equip our workforce to know enough to be able to identify and offer the right support. Therefore, we are reviewing our training offer for frontline staff on the issue of sexual abuse in the family environment.  In the meantime, you can access further information online regarding CSA identification, procedures, and support resources from:

West Midlands Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures

Identifying & Responding to Child Sexual Abuse

Identifying & recognising Sexually Harmful Behaviour (SHB) in Young People

Support resources: