One in ten children in England and Wales are victims of some form of child sexual abuse before the age of 16, yet most of this abuse is currently not identified or responded to. Those working with children therefore 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 wellbeing of every child.
The Response Pathway builds on key legislation, statutory guidance and core safeguarding principles, and now also provides new essential guides on family law and family court processes, helping professionals to understand how this fits alongside child protection and criminal justice responses.
The go-to resource is the only tool of its kind in England and Wales, and enables professionals working across education, health, children’s social care, policing, criminal justice, family law, and voluntary and community services to access the latest child-centred guidance at their fingertips.
Throughout, the Response Pathway empowers and supports professionals working with children and families to respond calmly and confidently to concerns. It doesn’t just tell professionals what to do, it helps them understand how to do it.
Child-centred
Crucially, the Response Pathway’s advice is centred around the needs of the child and their wellbeing. It draws on children’s own voices to illustrate how they experienced professionals’ responses and to show what a good response looked like.
By centering the voices of those impacted by child sexual abuse in demonstrating what best practice looks like, the Response Pathway can help professionals to provide each child they work with the response and support they need and deserve.
Throughout, the Response Pathway’s child-centred approach highlights the importance of recognising children’s diversity and responding to the individual needs, experiences and circumstances of each child.
Supporting implementation
Together with the new Response Pathway, the CSA Centre has also published an updated guide, Implementing the Child Sexual Abuse Response Pathway: A guide for local safeguarding partnerships and regional safeguarding boards, to help local partnerships introduce and embed the practice tool within their local procedures.
The guide sets out the key principles of the Response Pathway, why it is needed, and how it was developed, helping local partnerships understand how it strengthens and complements existing multi‑agency safeguarding practice.
It provides practical support for implementation, drawing on learning and case studies from areas already using it in practice, offering considerations for reflecting the Response Pathway within local policies, procedures, workforce development and partnership working.
The Response Pathway and implementation guide are free to use, share and return to whenever you have concerns about child sexual abuse. Visit http://www.responsepathway.csacentre.org.uk/ to access both resources.
