Sibling sexual abuse

Welcome to Learn on the go, a Community Care Inform podcast where we discuss what the latest research, practice models and policy guidance mean for your practice.

This episode is about sibling sexual abuse. We spoke to Anna Glinski, deputy director, knowledge and practice development, at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (the CSA Centre, for short) and Stuart Allardyce, a director of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation with responsibilities for Stop It Now! Scotland, who is one of the authors of a report the CSA Centre published in January: Sibling sexual abuse: a knowledge and practice overview. https://www.csacentre.org.uk/knowledge-in-practice/practice-improvement/sibling-sexual-abuse/

The discussion explores key themes from the report, including why sibling sexual abuse can be particularly challenging for social workers to work with, how practice can deal with the fact that both the child who has been harmed and the child who has harmed are children, supporting parents who often feel a 'grenade' has gone off in the family and struggle with shame, denial and blame, and working with the family as a whole. Anna and Stuart explain how work in these cases can actually be very hopeful in providing a window to make a significant positive difference in the lives and longer term outcomes for children and the family.

Stuart mentions the confidential Stop It Now! helpline. As well as supporting anyone concerned about their own or another adult or child's sexual behaviours towards children, or about a child who may have been abused, professionals can call the helpline for case advice. UK: 0808 1000 900 Ireland: +44 1372 847 161 https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/helpline/

You may also be interested in:

Community Care Inform's knowledge and practice on child sexual abuse - written guides, videos and group activities to support social workers with different aspects of CSA. https://www.ccinform.co.uk/knowledge-hubs/child-sexual-abuse-knowledge-and-practice-hub/

The CSA Centre's key messages from research on child sexual abuse - an accessible overview of the latest research to support those responding to child sexual abuse. https://www.csacentre.org.uk/resources/key-messages/

Community Care Inform subscribers can access additional resources and a written transcript of the podcast: https://www.ccinform.co.uk/learning-tools/sibling-sexual-abuse-podcast/

Learn on the go: the Community Care podcast

Where can you listen?

Episodes