Preventing child sexual abuse in your family and community

Everyday ways to prevent child sexual abuse in families and communities

Most child sexual abuse is carried out either by family members or people children or families know. This means that preventing child sexual abuse starts with your family and your community.

Here are some everyday things you can do in your family and community to prevent child sexual abuse:

• Talk with children about child sexual abuse and children’s personal and sexual safety.
• Take some basic safety precautions – for example, if your child is alone with adults or young people, ensure that they can be seen and/or interrupted at any time, and always go with your child to public toilets.
• Ask for details of supervision and sleeping arrangements when your child invite to sleepovers, parties, camps, outings and so on.
• Check in with your child on things like sleepovers, sport and so on. For example, message your child at sleepovers to ask how things are going. Or ask questions like, ‘How was football coaching today?’
• Ask other parents how they check in on their children’s safety.
• Learn about grooming.

Community policies and practices to prevent child sexual abuse

Local services and organizations like child care settings, schools, sports clubs, and places of worship should have policies and practices to keep children safe and prevent child sexual abuse. It’s reasonable for you to expect this and OK for you to ask about it.

Here are ways to find out about these policies and practices:

• Ask your child’s school, sports club, before-school, and after-school care or youth group for copies of their child safety policies.
• Ask questions about child safety at sports or activity clubs or other groups.
• Ask your local council about its strategies to protect children in the community, particularly in public spaces like parks and at community events.

Working with local services and organizations to prevent child sexual abuse

It’s important to recognise that some small, community-based, volunteer-run organizations might need support for child safety. They often have fewer resources to develop child-safe policies and practices or keep up to date with regulations and requirements.

You can play a part in helping organisations protect children and prevent child sexual abuse. For example, you or a group of parents could volunteer to review past and current child-safe practices and policies in the organisation and develop new ones if needed.

If you’re helping to develop new policies and practices, here are some things you could consider. Not all of these will be relevant to all organisations:

• Grounds and facilities should well lit and easily supervise. Organisations should avoid scheduling activities in isolated areas of grounds and facilities.
• Older children or young people who have responsibility for younger children should be supervised.
• Everyone who spends time with children should be screened as suitable for working with children and have a working with children (WWC) check.
• All members, staff and volunteers must train in preventing, recognising and responding to child sexual abuse and should also train in recognizing grooming.