Children suffering familial sexual abuse not being heard or believed by professionals
Professionals lack skills in identifying child sexual abuse within families and too often fail to believe children who disclose it, a damning report has found.
The review of 136 safeguarding cases said “a profound change” is needed in how practitioners talk to children about abuse.
It identified “systemic and multi-agency” failings and a “culture of fear and silence” among professionals, including social workers, health workers, police and teachers, that prevents this from happening.
The report, by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, called I wanted them all to notice, found family members were known to pose a threat in more than a third of the child sexual abuse cases it looked at.
This risk, however, was “ignored, denied or deflected” and professionals frequently accepted retractions from abused children as proof it did not occur.
The criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt” rather than the safeguarding threshold of “balance of probabilities” was too often applied, found the review.
Panel chair Annie Hudson said: “This report describes very shocking things about the lives, distress and pain of children who had horrific abuse perpetrated on them, by adults who should have cared for them and kept them safe.
“What is even more disturbing is that safeguarding agencies were unable to listen, hear and protect these children.”
Hudson blamed an erosion of profressional skills due to a focus on institutional abuse perpetuated by “famous” people and on child sexual exploitation outside homes.
She said: “Over the past 20 years or so, the light on the sexual abuse of children within families has gradually dimmed.
“We have witnessed a worrying evaporation of the skills and knowledge that professionals (leaders and practitioners) must have to work confidently and sensitively in this complex area of practice.”
The panel called on the government to lead a national strategy, including upskilling the safeguarding workforce and better monitoring of people who pose a risk to children.
It urged ministers to act to address its concerns in the forthcoming Children’s and Wellbeing Bill.
Other key findings
- Practitioners “overwhelmingly” rely on children to verbally report abuse
- Children are not given opportunities to communicate what is happening to them
- Practitioners lacked knowledge and understanding of how a history of child sexual violence or abuse presented a risk in a family environment
- The link between domestic abuse and coercive control on child sexual abuse was not considered
- Practitioners did not share information about an individual’s history of child sexual abuse with their partners
- Practitioners often wrongly believed parental consent was needed to undertake a child in need assessment
- Assessments were siloed with new incidents treated as unique rather than part of a bigger picture
- When police decided ‘no further action’ was needed on cases, this was understood as evidence a child had not been abused
- Signs of sexual abuse were frequently missed in disabled children and often interpreted as “being a result of the child’s impairments”
Time for safeguarding to catch up
The report said failure to notice familial child sexual abuse was underlined by the fact that it’s cited as a primary concern in only 3.6 per cent of child protection plans.
This is despite government figures estimating 500,000 children are sexually abused each year in England and Wales and one in ten will be sexually abused by the age of 16.
Between a third and a quarter of sexual abuse cases involve a family member.
The panel suggest “uncertainties” about what can be discussed with children could be partly to blame for the lack of reporting.
It also said an “over-reliance” on the criminal justice system to confirm abuse could be a factor.
Andy Smith, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said the review's findings were a "difficult but necessary read".
He added: "It sheds light on the true scale of the challenges faced in identifying and responding to child sexual abuse in the family environment and the impact it has on children’s lives.
"Children do not always feel able to tell someone they are being abused so we all need to be aware of the signs and symptoms and know how to respond effectively to safeguard them and then repair the harm they have suffered."
John Fitzgerald, a retired social worker who spent 20 years working on child abuse inquiries including the Fred and Rosemary West murders, has long advocated for the voices of children to be heard and believed.
He said: “Having spent so much energy over the years on this subject since 1990 onwards it is very sad to think that we are still needing to fight this battle because so many children will have been needlessly damaged whilst our profession sticks its head in the sand.
“Social workers feel that when they want to use information from a child, managers divert the subject by suggesting children are not ‘objective’ or lie. This report is very clear about our failures and surely it’s time for safeguarding services to finally catch up.”
Message from children
The panel’s report was based on a review of 136 rapid reviews, including 40 which became serious case reviews between June 2018 and November 2023.
It also held online group discussions with 107 practitioners and interviews with two children and five people convicted of child sexual abuse.
The following advice for professionals came from the two children interviewed:
- If a social worker notices signs that something might be wrong, they should arrange more unannounced visits
- If the parents or carers are in the same room or nearby, it is difficult for children to speak freely, so make every effort to find a safe space to talk to the child
- When practitioners talk to a child on their own, reassure them that they can say anything and that they will not get told off for it
- Ask more direct questions and keep children informed
- Be more attuned to children’s mental health needs and the reasons behind these