Are you looking for guidance on responding to child sexual abuse? Do you want to learn more about the role you, your colleagues and your organisation can play to best protect and support the children you work with?

This free webinar gives professionals the knowledge and confidence to use the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse’s Response Pathway in practice, giving them advice that is centred around the needs of the child, how they are feeling and what they hope will happen.

About this webinar

One in ten children in England and Wales will experience some form of child sexual abuse before the age of 16, yet most of this abuse is currently not identified or responded to. While surveys indicate that sexual abuse is as common as other forms of childhood abuse, such as emotional abuse or neglect, it is much less likely to be identified by professionals.

Those working with children need a clear understanding of the specific actions and processes they should follow when they have concerns of child sexual abuse, to be able to act to ensure the safety and well-being of every child. To support professionals in this, the CSA Centre has created the Child Sexual Abuse Response Pathway (Response Pathway), an interactive online resource to guide them through how they can protect and support children and their families when there are concerns of sexual abuse.

This lunch and learn webinar helps professionals learn how to starting using the Response Pathway in practice, and empowers them to understand the role they, and their colleagues, can play to best protect and support children. The session gives advice and examples of how to use the Response Pathway and explains how it supports professionals to meet the needs of children and their families.

Who is this webinar for?

This course is for any professional whose role may involve contact with children, including those in social care, health (primary care, mental health, accident and emergency, midwifery, health visiting, sexual health), police, adoption services, fostering services, schools and any other relevant services.

It will be relevant for both frontline staff, and those in strategic leadership roles.

Following the webinar, you can expect to have:

• A good understanding of the guidance and resources available throughout the Response Pathway, and how it can support you in your work
• An understanding of how other local safeguarding children partnerships have used the Response Pathway, and the steps they have taken to embed it into multi-agency practice
• A clear idea of the steps that you can take to begin using the Response Pathway to support either your own individual practice or wider practice across your agency / partnership, and awareness of the further support available through the CSA Centre.

Who will run the webinar?

This course will be led by a member of CSA Centre team involved in creating the Response Pathway, who worked closely with other safeguarding partnerships to support its implementation in practice. They have significant experience in working with children and families where sexual abuse is a concern.

About the CSA Centre

The Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) aims to reduce the impact of child sexual abuse through improved prevention and better response, so that children can live free from the threat and harm of sexual abuse. We are a multi-disciplinary team, working closely with key partners from academic institutions, government, local authorities, health, education, police and the voluntary sector. Our focus is on supporting professionals to improve identification and response to child sexual abuse through evidence-informed resources, training, and guidance.