‘Over the last 40 years, child sexual abuse (CSA) has become a regular, if discomforting, focus of public concern and attention. A constant stream of news items, investigations and arrests, public inquiries and statements from politicians and authorities can leave the impression that child sex offending is being countered by the full opposition of the state and community. This impression is deceptive. There have been, of course, meaningful advances in child protection and therapeutic responses to victimised children and adult survivors, and improvements in public awareness and understanding of CSA. Nonetheless, the challenges that CSA have always posed to child protection, health services, law enforcement and society at large – including the prevalence and secrecy of CSA, the complexities of prosecution and the multiple impacts on victims – remain with us today. Meanwhile, patterns of sexual offending against children continue to evolve with the development of new technologies and strategies for sexual exploitation.’

 

 Child Sexual Abuse: Ethics…

The latest issue of Child Abuse Review is a themed issue focusing on the ethics and evidence of child sexual abuse. In an accompanying editorial, freely available online, our Australian associate editor, Michael Salter, explores some of the issues raised by the papers.

We include a paper by David Pilgrim which provides a powerful check on impulses towards the minimisation of CSA. The tendency to minimise the abhorrence of child sexual abuse is thoughtfully challenged by Pilgrim, and is addressed later in the issue in a paper by Ethel Quayle and colleagues analysed material from the International Child Sexual Exploitation database. One of their disturbing findings was an increase in self-produced images (sexting), and the high levels of coercion involved in such activity. This adds a challenging new dimension to the ongoing effort to protect children from such abuse.

‘Two‐thirds of self‐produced images involved coercion, challenging the view that self‐produced images are less concerning than those taken by others. Manipulating or coercing a child to produce a nude or sexual image emerges in this study as a common and harmful strategy among online child sex offenders, casting debates on so‐called ‘sexting’ in a new light.’

 

… and Evidence

Two helpful reviews in the issue provide up-to-date research evidence on the causes of CSA (Estelle Clayton and colleagues) and structural brain abnormalities associated with it (Damyan Edwards). The themed issue also includes new research on multi-agency responses to CSA (Lindsay Voss and colleagues) and on the impact of sexual abuse on boys and men – typically an under-researched and overlooked group (Madelaine Ressel and colleagues).

‘The impact of sexual abuse on boys and men is a prominent and ongoing concern’’

 

Click on the link below to see the full table of contents, read Michael Salter’s editorial and for details of online access.

 

Child Abuse Review Volume 27, Issue 3

Table of Contents

Editorial: Child Sexual Abuse: Ethics and Evidence. Michael Salter.

Reviews

Academic Disputes about Adult‐Child Sexual Contact: A Critical Realist Appraisal. David Pilgrim.

The Aetiology of Child Sexual Abuse: A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence. Estelle Clayton, Christine Jones, Jon Brown, Julie Taylor.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Brain Development: A Discussion of Associated Structural Changes and Negative Psychological Outcomes. Damyan Edwards.

Original Research

Multiagency Response to Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Case Study that Explores the Role of a Specialist Centre. Lindsay Voss, Helen Rushforth, Catherine Powell.

Children in Identified Sexual Images – Who Are they? Self‐ and Non‐Self‐Taken Images in the International Child Sexual Exploitation Image Database 2006–2015. Ethel Quayle, Linda S Jonsson, Karen Cooper, James Traynor, Carl Göran Svedin.

Abuse Characteristics, Multiple Victimisation and Resilience among Young Adult Males with Histories of Childhood Sexual Abuse.  Madelaine Ressel, Jennifer Lyons, Elisa Romano.

Training Update: Eradicating Child Sexual Abuse (online toolkit) by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, 2016. reviewed by Sarah Nelson

Book Review: Dark Secrets of Childhood: Media Power, Child Abuse and Public Scandals by Fred Powell and Margaret Scanlon, Policy Press, Bristol, 2015. reviewed by Marguerite L Donathy and Nicole Horton