The Needs of and Support for Families of Child Sexual Abuse: Some preliminary findings

Child sexual abuse is a complex and highly emotive subject. This research focuses on ‘indirect’ or ‘secondary’, ‘victims’ of child sexual abuse. This includes people close to the direct victim such as non-abusing carers, guardians or family members as well as those close to the perpetrator of the abuse. The experiences and needs of these groups of people have rarely been the subject of research; yet the small number of studies of families of children subjected to sexual assault point to the profound impacts such offences can have, particularly on mothers. Here I report on some preliminary findings from my ongoing research on the needs of and support for families of child sexual abuse. Findings derive from discussions with key contacts and from semi-structured interviews with key professional staff working in agencies involved in such cases.