Services for CSA survivors not providing long-term support, report finds

A groundbreaking report reveals unprecedented information about crimes of sexual violence against children in the UK, shedding light on the critical gaps in the local systems for preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation, and for supporting those affected.

The evidence was collected through an innovative global ‘Our Voice Survivor’ survey that aims to hear and amplify the long-silenced voices and wisdom of those who endured sexual violence in childhood. Utilising a novel methodology, the survey has successfully reached out to over 23,000 victims and survivors worldwide, including 643 victims and survivors in the UK.

Presenting at the the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI) annual conference - part of Anglia Ruskin University - researchers unveiled a ‘concerning’ lack of response to child sexual abuse in the UK.

“I feel a bit sad for the child I was, but I am very glad to be able to give evidence of my experience to help inform others and build knowledge internationally about sexual abuse of children,” one survivor of childhood sexual violence in the UK, who took part in the survey, said.

Despite severe and long-lasting emotional, physical, and psychological impacts, more than half of survivors have not received any support to cope with these. The results were compared between the Five Eyes countries, revealing that survivors in the UK were the least likely to receive support.

“Much of the abuse described by the UK respondents happened decades ago and we know that the nature of child sexual abuse has changed, with so many young people now being victimised online,” Lea Kamitz, Dawes Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the IPPPRI, Anglia Ruskin University, said.

“We must recognise the harm suffered by victims and survivors and ensure access to long-term support services.”

Another distressing insight highlights that over a half of the surveyed victims and survivors were first subject to sexual violence when they were 3 to 9 years old. Furthermore, victims and survivors reported suffering multiple forms of sexual abuse during their childhood ranging from inappropriate touching while clothed to the most severe forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.

Nine out of 10 survivors said that the perpetrator was someone they knew from before, with almost half reporting the perpetrator lived in the same household.

Researchers emphasised that 21% of survivors have never disclosed the abuse. Childhood sexual violence is already a very hidden form of criminality and it is further complicated by the challenges of disclosure. The disclosure may take up years or even decades – the striking proportion of two in five victims and survivors in the UK shared that it took them more than 21 years.

The insights from survivors form a call to action, urging communities, policymakers, and societies worldwide to recognise their pain and resilience and to come together in the mission to end child sexual abuse and exploitation.