Keeping Children Safe: What we all need to know to protect our children

Many people feel that they already hear more than they want to about sexual offences against children. TV, radio and newspapers seem to be full of horrific stories about children who are abused, abducted and even murdered, usually by strangers. The reality is that the stories that get the most media attention are not typical. So, how useful would this kind of information really be if we suspected that someone we knew well was sexually abusing a child or thinking about doing so?

People who abuse children are often very skilled at building trust with the child and their parents or carers, and abuse may take place for years with no one being aware of it. Because children are rarely able to tell about abuse we, as adults, need to protect them. However, recognising the behaviour of people who sexually abuse children is not easy – either because we do not know what to look for or because our suspicions are so disturbing that we push them out of our minds.

Stop it Now! believes that we can all meet the challenge of recognising the signs of abuse before it happens and can take positive action to prevent it. Most importantly of all, Stop it Now! calls on people who are abusing a child, or who are thinking about it, to recognise their behaviour as harmful and seek help.