CMARS > 7 Minute Briefing – Learning from National Review into Child Sexual Abuse in the Family Environment

7 Minute Briefing – Learning from National Review into Child Sexual Abuse in the Family Environment

Table of contents

  1. Background
  2. Why it matters?
  3. Recommendations 
  4. Key learning
  5. Next steps
  6. Reflection on the learning 
  7. Further information

1. Background

Between 2018 and 2023, the independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel received over 130 Rapid Reviews and related Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) and local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (LCSPRs) which featured child sexual abuse in the family environment (also known as intrafamilial child sexual abuse). The overarching review question was:
What specific challenges feature in the identification, assessment, and response to child sexual abuse within the family environment and how can multi-agency local and national safeguarding practice change to better reflect evidence about how to protect children from intrafamilial child sexual abuse?

Within this, 3 key lines of enquiry set for the review
focused on:
• early identification of risks, risk assessment and strategies to mitigate those risks
• robust responses to concerns of intrafamilial child sexual abuse to protect children from ongoing or recurrent harm
• a series of cross-cutting themes and questions

2. Why it matters?

The Panel recognised that there was already ongoing research in this field but considered that the volume of incidents, and the severity and complexity of issues highlighted required further exploration and analysis.

3. Recommendations

By commissioning a national review into child sexual abuse in the family environment, the Panel is seeking to shine a light on the contexts, experiences and needs of these children and their parents or carers. From this, the Panel have identified 10 national recommendations and 6 key recommendations for local safeguarding partners to enable leaders and practitioners to better understand and uphold their responsibilities in protecting and supporting children.

The safeguarding partner recommendations are:
❖ Recommendation 1: Strategic Planning
❖ Recommendation 2: Professional knowledge, skills & confidence
❖ Recommendation 3; Enquiries & investigations
❖ Recommendation 4: Assessment of people presenting risk of sexual harm
❖ Recommendation 5: Taking to children
❖ Recommendation 6: Health

4. Key Learning

The findings of this national review clearly illustrate the scale of the challenge facing practitioners, and indeed wider society, in identifying, responding to and preventing child sexual abuse in the family environment. They highlight a systemic failure across all agencies to recognise and respond when children are at risk of, or are already, being sexually
abused by someone in their family

❖ Hearing children’s voices & understanding their needs
❖ Understanding parents’ & carers’ needs & contexts
❖ Identifying signs, understanding risk and raising concerns
❖ Responding to concerns of intrafamilial child sexual abuse

5. Next Steps

cMARS presented an overview of the review report at the Safeguarding Practice Learning and Improvement Group (SPLIG) and as a result a Task & Finish group is to be established to ensure the recommendations are implemented within North Lincolnshire.

6. Reflect on the learning

To inform your practice you can:

7. Further Information