

The thought of it is so horrific that it’s understandable to push it to one side. Unfortunately, the statistics demand of us, as good parents and teachers, to pay attention. In the UK for example, the NSPCC found the following (March 2021):
-An estimated 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused
-Over a third of all police-recorded sexual offences are against children.
-Girls and older children are more likely to experience sexual abuse. (Which does not mean that they are THE ONLY ones who do)
-The vast majority of children who experience sexual abuse were abused by someone they knew.
So what practical things can you do about it?
✅Make sure your child knows the correct names for body parts so they have the ability to articulate where something happens to them, if it does
✅teach about consent! This starts young and is about body autonomy and boundaries
✅pay attention to your child’s body language around others
✅Teach media literacy and also use the media as way to start conversations
✅be involved in their day to day lives and ask questions/be available -no judgement
✅ask open ended questions which allow for discussion/an opening for the child to raise issues
✅get to know the people in your child’s life
✅create a safety network of trusted adults so your child knows who it’s ok to go with if there’s an emergency etc (passwords can work well here)
✅talk openly about feelings in the home
✅talk about the difference between secrets and surprises
✅screen caregivers/daycare centres/nurseries
✅Understand school safeguarding policies
✅Be aware of the signs of sexual abuse in a child
✅understand what constitutes a healthy vs unhealthy relationship so that you can identify red flags when you see them
✅if you have a child with different/additional needs, understand the specific challenges they might face in communicating their boundaries to others/communicating to you if something is wrong
❎Of course this is not an exhaustive list and we can’t ever be 100% ensure that nothing is going to happen to our children (&the captions aren’t long enough to go into each point😤) HOWEVER, acting on these suggestions will go a long way to protecting your child.