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Supporting girls to develop healthy sexual relationships

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Supporting girls to develop healthy sexual relationships

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Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges

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Ofsted was asked by the government to carry out a rapid review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. This report summarises our findings and recommendations.

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Gender Based Violence campaign #IsThisOK

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Gender Based Violence campaign #IsThisOK

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Crime Not Compliment

Help us make public sexual harassment a crime

Change the law on public sexual harassment

Over the next few weeks, our Crime Not Compliment campaign will be coming to your streets. Adverts on billboards and bus stops all over the UK will be calling for public sexual harassment to be made a crime.

Relentless harassment is holding girls back, impacting their mental health, restricting their freedom and making them feel unsafe. Parents are worrying about their daughters as young as 11.

From parks, university campuses and bus stops to our local high streets, girls across the UK are harassed every day. It's time to make it a crime.

Change the law on public sexual harassment

*The research was conducted by Opinuim Research, supported by players of the People's Postcode Lottery, amongst a representative sample of 1,000 parents of 14-21-year-old girls; and 1,010 14-21-year-old-girls; in the UK from 23 September to 1 October 2020.

A full summary of the key survey findings is available upon request - please contact the press office for more information.

If you've experienced street harassment and need to talk to someone, you can call Childline on 0800 1111 or visit their website.

If you experience behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable on public transport, you can report it to the British Transport Police by texting what, when and where to 61016.

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help us make public sexual harassment a crime.

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Crime Not a Compliment | Plan International UK

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Change the law on public sexual harassment Over the next few weeks, our Crime Not Compliment campaign will be coming to your streets. Adverts on billboards and bus stops all over the UK will be calling for public sexual harassment to be made a crime.

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NSPCC Harmful sexual behaviour framework

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NSPCC Harmful sexual behaviour framework

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Action for equality between women and men

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This interactive three-part course will take 90 minutes to complete and includes downloadable resources for you to use in your classroom. At the end of the course, you will be asked to complete a personal action plan outlining how you will put your learning into practice.

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This interactive three-part course will take 90 minutes to complete and includes downloadable resources for you to use in your classroom. At the end of the course, you will be asked to complete a personal action plan outlining how you will put your learning into practice.

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Podcast transcript

Introduction:
Welcome to NSPCC Learning, a series of podcasts that cover a range of child protection issues to inform, create debate, and tell you all about the work we do to keep children safe. At the heart of every podcast is the child's voice, and how what they tell us, informs the work we do.

Ali:
Hi and welcome to the latest NSPCC Learning Podcast. This is the last in a series of three programmes focusing on harmful sexual behaviour, or HSB for short, and how schools manage and respond to this issue.

This week's episode looks at prevention. Pat Branigan, the NSPCC's lead on harmful sexual behaviour, sat down and had a chat with Antoinette Jackson, Designated Safeguarding Lead for an academy trust; David Jenkins, an academy Vice Principal and Designated Safeguarding Lead, and Katy Tomkinson, a social worker and children's service practitioner who works on the NSPCC's HSB service.

Together they discuss how schools do and can mitigate against harmful sexual behaviour and what good practice looks like - both for preventing incidents of HSB and for managing incidents once they've happened. They discuss wider community engagement, working with parents and carers and working with other professionals and the importance of taking care of staff as well as students.

There are a few acronyms used in this podcast. MAT is Multi-Academy Trust, DSL is the Designated Safeguarding Lead, and PSHE is Personal, Social, Health and Economic. We do acknowledge that these terms are known differently in the some of the other three nations.

And just to let you know, we're going to be releasing our podcasts monthly from March and hope that you'll continue to listen and enjoy each episode.

So back to the podcast, Pat began by asking Katy, Antoinette and David what schools can consider in order to prevent incidents of HSB.

Antoinette:
One of the really important things is empowering young people to make the right decisions and make the right life choices. We do that by having a really good, robust PSHE programme. During the autumn term, we run a protective behaviours programme and this is where we look at sexual exploitation, consent, healthy relationships...

We don't talk to our young children and give them orders about what they can and can't do. We empower them to be confident young people in making the right decisions, and that's throughout the PSHE programme.

We'd also link that in with assemblies and also a form time choices programme where we work with our police officers to look at dangerous situations. We also arm them with helpline numbers that they can access outside of academy hours as well, because we have to be mindful, we can protect our young people during academy hours, but we know there are negative elements out there outside of that.

So, we arm them with information, education, but not telling them what they should and shouldn't be doing, giving them the confidence to make the right decisions in their young lives because they're not always exposed to the right kind of information out there.

Pat:
That's so true, isn't it? Do you get feedback from students about how this works and how they feel the school responds?

Antoinette:
They enjoyed the subject. We have one teacher who is responsible for that. So, I oversee the programme and it's also quality assured by somebody from the authority.

But we assess our young people as well and again, it's not an academic assessment. It's an assessment on how confident they would feel in certain situations, how they would avoid situations, what kind of choices they would make when approached or exposed to something which inevitably they will be throughout their young lives, how confident they are and how resilient they are. It's about developing them as people to make the right choice and we do a lot of work around that. If you were to ask our young people about certain situations they would be able to freely tell you, and we do that from year seven.

Dave:
Just to add to those points, I think it's really important that schools have a culture of safeguarding. So, keeping the child at the very centre of training, of policy and ethos within the school and making sure that all the staff within the school are aware of the culture of safeguarding and their part in that.

By all staff we mean everybody that comes into our schools. That could be teachers, cleaners, caretakers, leisure staff, volunteers, contractors. Every adult that comes into our school has to be aware of our culture within our school and the way that we do things within our organisation.

Around that, it's really important that we have our PSHE programme, and Antoinette's alluded to that. But also within transition, it's very important that secondary schools in particular work across year six and year seven from a very early starting point to really understand those students that are coming through and get their context and pick up on any issues and make sure that we've got the right support mechanisms in place for those young people so they can integrate properly when they come through into secondary school.

Lots of our students are members of communities and we talk about our school community but we talk about communities also external to the schools. For example, lots of our students get involved in scouts and sea scouts and football clubs, netball clubs, rugby clubs, and it's making sure that they're empowered again to make the right choices, not just within the school, but when they're out in those other communities.

And of course, one of the communities that we know lots of young people are involved in are online communities. We know that the boundaries there and the filters that students have, sometimes they let their guard down on online communities because it's not face-to-face communication. And there's lots and lots of programmes that we have to put in place in order to equip our students with the right skills and knowledge and understanding so that they are safe within those communities. And when they feel that they need to ask for help, that they know how to access that help and where they can go for that help.

It's a big piece of work. We know that there's big challenges for schools within this area because just in my school, lots of staff time is spent unpicking issues that have happened in online communities.

Katy:
I think it's so positive to hear you both talking about whole school approaches because I think that's fundamental to the prevention of harmful sexual behaviour or sexual behaviour concerns escalating. And I know when we've completed consultation with schools and with students, sometimes I think schools can feel a little bit overwhelmed by some of the really low-level behaviours. That's some of the language - the use of words like "slag" and "slut", or very low-level touching, that kind of thing.

I think it is within the schools' gift to address these because when we've had conversations with students about racist language, for example, those students will tell me "absolutely, I know what would happen if I used a racist word or if somebody used a racist way towards me" and there would be very clear criteria and behaviour management of that.

But that wouldn't be the case for sexualised language and harmful words like that. And it's not that you can change that overnight, but I think actually, if you go back 20, 30 years, perhaps racist language was used more often in schools, but that's not the case now. So, I think it is absolutely within the school gift to create an environment that feels fundamentally safe and respectful for all our children and young people.

And I think what's really positive is we know from research that where peer relationships are formed in those safe, respectful environments, that has an impact, a positive impact on behaviour in the community. There are less behaviour concerns in the community because of how those peer relationships have been formed. But similarly, where peer relationships are formed within schools where there is disrespect, lots of low-level behaviours that isn't addressed, then actually we see greater prevalence out in the community of very serious harmful sexual behaviours, for example.

Pat:
And I think that the idea, what we're hearing is the idea of consistent, persistent messages that thread through the work of your assemblies, the community work within the schools, this 'whole school' ethos, but also the idea of setting appropriate expectations and expectations of appropriate behaviour even.

I'm struck also by the idea that later in the year, September, there'll be mandatory requirements for RSE (Relationships and Sex Education). And it sounds like you're ahead of the game on that a little bit, but we've done some research in the NSPCC and in the latest survey that we've done with education professionals, still a third came back to us and said that they didn't feel appropriately confident yet to be rolling out RSE, that they felt would really address some of these things. I think there's a lot of work there.

So, in thinking about the school staff network and the fact that you are the early identification really for a lot of this, aren't you, certainly around concerning sexual behaviours? What sort of support is there to make you feel confident in managing harmful sexual behaviour currently? And how does it leave staff feeling if it isn't there?

Antoinette:
I think it's really important that you work collaboratively. So, if we've got to roll out sex education to our young people, we would work with our school nurses. We would work with Brook sexual health services and would take advice and guidance from them. They would probably deliver some lessons but then they would train our staff to deliver those lessons as well.

I think collaborative working, just going back to what Katy said, is so important, and you said about running things through a school, and the onus that we have to take. We have a big responsibility in the welfare of our young people, but we do that collaboratively by working with our children services, with our social workers, with our MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) teams.

I've spent four days now with our child protection services, seeing what they do on their end and we've invited them into our community. So, when we are faced with anything, it's kind of a joint decision. That collaborative working needs to develop with our police, with parenting programmes.

Schools need to embrace the services that are out there and I think, in the past, you so often heard, "that's their job" and "that's their job" - actually, it's all of our jobs. The welfare and safeguarding of young children is everybody's responsibility in whatever profession you are and it's about professionals coming together.

I really relish the time I spend with social workers. We're on first name terms and I take advice and guidance. And I will say to them, I've put that programme of support in for that young child, whatever they've been prevalent to, is there anything else I need to do? And they'll take advice from me and that really is moving forward.

Dave:
Just to add to what Antoinette's talked about there, there are some big implications for some secondary schools within this new curriculum model. For example, in my school, every student in every year group, receives one hour a week PSHE. That structure is already in place but I know that other secondary schools have got to look at their curriculum structure so that their RSE curriculum can become age-related.

I know that some of them, for example, have Drop Down Days, and it may be that they're combining groups and obviously for age-related programmes, that needs to be looked at for those particular secondary schools. So, there are big implications there for schools. It's not just about introducing the new curriculum.

Katy:
You're absolutely right because there is huge pressure on schools and you are juggling an awful lot and the expectation just seems to grow without necessarily all the sort of support to do that. So, I think we fully recognise that expectation.

I suppose what I'm thinking of is the positives that can come with PSHE, in terms of addressing some of those children's emotional needs actually might have a positive impact on their ability to manage education, access their education more positively, which then reduces time and behaviour management.

I think, particularly when we think about harmful sexual behaviour, and also more broadly the impacts of trauma on our young people and young people who are sort of sitting in an almost permanent state of hypervigilance and fights and flights - which isn't necessarily diagnosed and written down anywhere - but actually causes significant issues for schools, for children who self-sabotage, can't manage in lessons, feel the need to sabotage the lessons so that they can get out of it. Through really robust PSHE and sex and relationship education, I think that can address some of that need. So, hopefully would have a positive impact on your curriculum and timetabling in all of that.

Dave:
And I think we all agree that those building blocks that you refer to there are really important so that students have the best opportunity to be classroom ready so that they can succeed when they are in the classroom.

Antoinette:
Absolutely. Mental health and wellbeing is another area of support that's needed in schools. And actually, we try to normalise that now because we know a lot of our young people struggle with mental health issues. So, we will run assemblies, and again, they know the support's there.

But actually, what is really good is if you can relate mental health to prolific figures or you know pop stars, people like that, and normalise it where possible. What I'm finding now is our young men are coming and talking about it, who in the past would never have talked about these sensitive topics. So, it's normalising it and linking it to things that are going on in society.

Katy:
What we see in thinking about the young people that we work with on our harmful sexual behaviour service, is that in addition to those concerns around their sexualised behaviour, there will also quite often be concerns around their mental health, their experiences of trauma and also shame really.

Particularly shame around sexualised behaviour because of the stigma that's attached to it. It makes it very difficult for them to seek support and get help. So, I think recognising and supporting children right from the beginning when they start school - that actually you know what, we have a team of people here to support you because we recognise that at points in life, we all need a little bit of help and support, and that's okay, will make it more likely that children can access that support going forward.

But the other thing that I want to pick up on is, because we've spent a long time thinking about, quite rightly, impact on young people, but we should also acknowledge that sexual abuse is distressing for staff as well - all forms of sexual abuse. And I think acknowledging that there needs to be some support and understanding of impact issues for staff dealing with these issues is really, really important. It's absolutely normal to have an emotional response to something that is emotionally distressing. We shouldn't think that there's something wrong in having that response because we're professionals. We're not robots.

Antoinette:
I think a robust induction programme for new staff, but also what we do, I was formally appointed as DSL at the academy in September looking at new structures and strategies to put in place to support not only our young people, but our staff as well. So, I do two weekly briefings with the staff, just to update them, just to train them, just to remind them.

Because if we're putting this responsibility of safeguarding as a whole school ethos, then they've got to be comfortable and confident enough to action and take those actions. And they need to feel supported by me to do that.

Part of those briefings, we talk about caring for each other as well as caring for our young people. We talk about accessing help and support. We're making them well aware that they may come across distressing things, but we're there to help them and support them through that.

So, if you're creating an ethos of safeguarding, you must support the staff with the expectations that you have, and talking again about kindness and humility and having that in your schools, we promote that every single day - inclusivity as well. Making sure we all care about each other but it's good to do that with the staff as well because we're facing very tough times at the moment. Not just within school and the expectations around that and the wellbeing and the academic requirements, but also outside in the community as well. We know there are things going on. So, you create a family environment - I think there's a place for that in all academies and schools.

Pat:
That's a good point, that whole wider community approach. Again, schools don't exist in isolation, do they? And children do spend their entire lives in schools so it's that point about the contextual approach. And I think some of the fantastic work from the Contextual Safeguarding Network, which looks at exactly that, is really helping us I think move forward in our thinking around safeguarding.

Just coming back to the school environment, some of the theories around situational crime prevention talk about risk assessing hotspots. So, for example, you know your schools, you know where the students flow through a school, you know the areas of a school that are unsupervised and that might be more risky environments for this type of sexualised abuse or behaviour or peer on peer abuse. What's the role for thinking much more creatively about making schools safer places, and looking at some of those hotspots and thinking about how the school can be made to be a safer environment, physically even?

Dave:
When we talk about ethos of safeguarding, it's really important that students understand what that means and what their role is themselves. It's not just about the adults within the school. So, when we talk about the school physical environment, lots of the intelligence actually comes through from students themselves that are looking out for their peers.

We can have systems within our school like CCTV, but you only know where to look for CCTV in incidents because the intelligence has come through from students. And lots of incidents that do occur, that we find out about, is because students have come and told us. And that really then shows that the cultural safeguarding is working in school because students feel free that they can come and tell any member, a responsible adult within the school or a parent at home and it gets telephoned in. And then we can start looking and working with those families and those students about those incidents and make it very contextual based in terms of the solutions to move forward.

Pat:
If the school had a zero-tolerance approach to harmful sexual behaviour, that very issue you've just described, students feeling empowered to come forward and perhaps name peers or people that they've recognised in their year group that has displayed this kind of behaviour, might in fact be silenced because they might be thinking, well the implications of this would be so big that perhaps it's not worth raising at this point.

I'm just playing devil's advocate, but you could say that the very openness with which you seem to have got the ethos into the school, that you're able to talk about this, "disclose to members of staff, it will be taken seriously, you will be believed", seems to be something that we should be prioritising rather than perhaps be trying to be so punitive that children are almost afraid to speak out for fear of implications.

Dave:
Yes, I agree. I passionately believe that students should be able to speak out in all situations and not just within school, but also within the home environment and in that wider community environment.

If we don't have that facility or that environment where students feel that they can speak out, things will go unmissed and things will go unchecked and we will be coming back to situations where we're looking at historical cases. So, I think it's very powerful that students do get the message in our particular environment, in our school, that it's okay to speak out, it's the right thing to do, because they will be receiving the right support and the right help.

Katy:
From my perspective, it's so positive to hear what you, Antoinette and Dave are saying about the type of school environment you want to create because we know where we've worked with children - where there have been some very concerning behaviours and perhaps there's been an assessment where they do need high levels of supervision - that that can be managed effectively and safely in school, but that is best done in a school where there is a nurturing, collaborative, warm, safe and respectful environment which has much better outcomes for all children involved.

And as we talked about in the previous podcast episode, that can be managed really effectively with safety plans and robust recording for those young people. But I think it is so much more important that all children feel valued within their environments and like I say, that kind of nurturing support is put in place.

Pat:
So, the Department for Education is currently doing an update to Keeping children safe in education. We expect that to come out in 2020. As part of that, NSPCC has been involved in giving some feedback to some of the emerging sections of that policy document. And of particular importance is Section Five of that document, dealing with peer-on-peer sexualised behaviour and peer-on-peer abuse.

Our feedback, initially very early stage, was that what we wanted to see more of within that document was a sense that this can be prevented. And what I'm struck by in listening to you both is this idea that within your schools that is exactly the sort of approach that you're putting in place. The idea that incidences of harmful sexual behaviour can be prevented and also managed safely and appropriately when they occur in schools.

And there's no one trick to that. It seems to be a lot of hard work but also working together, not just within the school, but also wider than the school with multi-agency team partnerships who actually understand us as well and that that information flow and that support seems to be going both ways.

How have you seen from your own experience how to manage this harmful sexual behaviour in a much more preventative, proactive way rather than dealing with it reactively?

Dave:
This comes back to the culture of safeguarding that we're trying to establish within our organisations. And as part of that, it is the curriculum.

Now, we've talked about curriculum earlier, Antoinette did, but it's also about making sure that curriculum is tailored and bespoke where we need it to be and those tailored and bespoke programmes fit for individuals.

We're talking an individual that may have been on the receiving end of a harmful sexual behaviour in terms of an alleged victim or an alleged perpetrator, and what programmes that they're both getting so that both sets of students there are supported in the right ways, using the right strategies.

And again, that can't just be down to the schools and that does pull in together all the wider external partners to ensure that the students get what they need at the right timing so that these things don't drift.

Pat:
So, I mean, obviously, working in school, it's constant change. A lot happening and a lot of information flying around. How do you keep track of that and how do you make sense of what this information is telling you?

Dave:
So it's really important that all of our staff feed through incidents and reports from students into our data systems because then we can monitor spikes in data and we can put responses in as soon as possible.

I'll give you an example. It might be that there is a spike in incidents of social media use and incidents around social media. And it may be that we have to put in an e-safety response within PSHE programmes or through tutor programmes within that particular year group. The second example I wanted to give was an incident happening in our local community regarding county lines. And it was something that we worked with the police on and the police asked us to put something in our curriculum before Christmas. And that's what we're looking at doing, where we're working with particularly year groups - Key Stage 4 students - on county lines programmes.

Antoinette:
And it's making sure that your programmes, your assemblies, your PSHE curriculum, is fluid. So, if something arises in the media that is of a concern, again, it could be something around sexual exploitation, it could be around county lines, drugs, gangs, whatever, that you will adapt and respond to that incident that's happened.

Katy:
I think it's really positive to hear about those cultures and responses that you're creating in school, it's so positive. I absolutely believe that harmful sexual behaviour can be prevented. And key to doing that really is the cultures in schools that you're describing.

I think it's important to think about those cultures starting right from the moment children start school, but also supporting families and communities in creating similar cultures. And I think by doing that, creating these environments in schools, by working positively with other agencies, by sharing information appropriately, we can actually manage risk, proportionate responses, and fundamentally, reduce and prevent harmful sexual behaviour altogether.

Pat:
So, what are the sort of things that you need to help you build this preventative, holistic response to harmful sexual behaviour in an educational setting?

Dave:
Twenty years of research and probably even longer than that, talks about the triangle of where students and schools and parents work in partnership. And where that happens, we know, because research tells us this, that is the best chance for students to fulfil their goals, aspirations and their dreams and to have that brilliant life that they're setting out on.

But in my opinion, that's beginning to change. It's beginning to move from a triangle almost into a square, especially with this emphasis on safeguarding in our communities. The fourth point is really about bringing in those external partners that can really enable and empower those students to move forward in their lives and offer that support.

And schools need that support and parents need that support. I think if that square is fully in place, that is the student's best chance moving forward.

Katy:
Our experience in completing our assessments and interventions is exactly what you said around parents who actually quite often need as much support, if not more than the child or young person.

A specific intervention to support parents, carers and families where their children are have displayed harmful sexual behaviour has been developed within the NSPCC, which is really, really positive. But I think we do need to go further in offering support to families and where there are lower level behaviour concerns or just generally, because you're absolutely right, happy parents, happy children.

And also, recognising the emotional impact on parents as well. It's much, much easier as a professional to talk objectively about some of the behaviour concerns that we might see. Notwithstanding that it can obviously cause impact. But actually, if you're a mum or a dad or a grandparent or carer of that child, the emotional impact is going to be much, much greater.

And as a parent, you might have had your own abuse experiences, so trying to think about your child's behaviour in that context can be particularly difficult because it could tap into all sorts of impact issues for that parent.

I think being able to think about how we support parents, how we engage parents and how we help parents create really safe environments for their children. We're wrestling with the online world. How do we support parents in supporting their children with the online world similarly, I think is also really key.

Pat:
Really strong messages here from talking with you today around the school culture playing a role in prevention and that's right from school ethos, building healthy relationships and expectations around that, the curriculum work that Dave you were talking about. And this whole idea that everybody in the staff group has a role in modelling respect, privacy, the importance of personal space, gender equality and put those alongside policies which are integrated, that don't sit in silos, that address the other big issues - the bullying in schools, the safeguarding, but also the online aspects that again Dave you were talking about.

We haven't talked about it in this podcast episode but we talked about it in an earlier podcast episode about the importance of training for staff and the idea that this training is using the language that other professionals will use outside of schools so that you can integrate and join up and explain exactly what's happened and share information in a way that is helpful and will be acted upon.

I think finally what we heard is about this idea about don't forget the parents as well, because this is part of the wider context in which our children grow and develop. And if we ignore those families, then perhaps the whole point of having those consistent messages, and that powerful support and that second family, that you're talking about, Antoinette, is diminished perhaps, if we're not also being consistent in engaging with parents as well.

So, thanks to Dave, Antoinette and Katy. And just to remind you that many of the resources and tools that we've referred to in all three of the podcast episodes are available on the NSPCC Learning website. Please use them.

(Outro)

"Thank you for listening to this NSPCC Learning podcast. If you're looking for more safeguarding and child protection training, information or resources, please visit our website for professionals at nspcc.org.uk/learning."

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Podcast: preventing harmful sexual behaviour | NSPCC Learning

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Introduction: Welcome to NSPCC Learning, a series of podcasts that cover a range of child protection issues to inform, create debate, and tell you all about the work we do to keep children safe. At the heart of every podcast is the child's voice, and how what they tell us, informs the work we do.

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Supporting boys to develop healthy sexual relationships

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Supporting boys to develop healthy sexual relationships

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‘Don’t be that guy’: ‘Powerful’ anti-sexual violence video targets men

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‘Don’t be that guy’: ‘Powerful’ anti-sexual violence video targets men

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NAHT Preventing and responding to sexual harassment

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NAHT Preventing and responding to sexual harassment

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Something’s not right - lessons about disclosure of abuse

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Something’s not right - lessons about disclosure of abuse

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Home Office 'Something's Not Right' abuse disclosure resources, KS3-5 | www.pshe-association.org.uk

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These free-to-download lessons from the Home Office, for key stage 3-5 students, support the 'Something's Not Right' campaign on recognising and making disclosures about different forms of abuse. The lesson plans are downloadable below, and focus on:

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Our aim is to equip you with everything you need to provide exceptional relationships and sex education and wellbeing support to young people. Brook delivers RSE training to teachers, sessions with young people and supports schools to develop effective plans and policies.

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Skip Slideshow Skip OUR DIGITAL LEARNING COURSES AND RESOURCES Skip Full PSHE curriculum Skip Custom HTML Skip Our featured courses Our aim is to equip you with everything you need to provide exceptional relationships and sex education and wellbeing support to young people.

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Understanding image based sexual harassment and abuse

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Understanding image based sexual harassment and abuse

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International Womens Day Allies Of Women Speak Out

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arrow_downward Catch UP On Social

arrow_downward Open Social

'Allies of Women' is led by Derby County Community Trust, who are a key partner in the Safe Derby campaign, alongside Derby City Council, specialist child exploitation charity Safe and Sound and Derby Community Action - and as part of International Women's Day, Derby County has thrown their support behind the campaign.

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International Womens Day Allies Of Women Speak Out

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Allies of Women is led by Derby County Community Trust who are a key partner in the Safe Derby campaign alongside Derby City Council specialist child exploitation charity Safe and Sound and Derby Community Action and as part of International Womens Day Derby County has thrown their support behind the campaign

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Dealing with sexual harassment

If you have been sexually harassed, it is not your fault and no one should have to put up with it. We have listed a few steps below which could help you deal with it:
Ask them to stop
If you feel comfortable doing so, tell the person that you don't like what they are doing and you want it to stop. If you don't feel safe confronting them, speak to someone else who can help like a trusted adult or friend.
Make a note of what happens
It is a good idea to make note of when and where the sexual harassment happens, and if possible get details of any witnesses. If you are receiving unwanted letters, emails or texts; keep a record of them.
Speak to someone
If you're experiencing harassment it's a really good idea to speak to someone who you trust, like a family member, carer, or teacher. They will be able to help you with next steps, or assist you in finding additional support if you need.

Sometimes it can feel embarrassing or difficult telling a person that you're being harassed but it's important to remember that it is never your fault and your feelings are valid. If you don't feel comfortable speaking to someone you know or would rather tell someone over the phone, there are organisations that you can contact, like Victim Support.

I f you're not sure whether what you're experiencing is harassment, speaking to someone else about it can help put things into perspective and help you to understand what you're going through.
Report it
It is always your decision whether to report harassment. If you report to your school, college or work, they will have to follow up and investigate your report.

If you are in immediate danger, you should call the police on 999.

If you are being sexually harassed at work or by your landlord you are protected by the Equality Act 2010 which categorises sexual harassment under unlawful discrimination. This also includes if you are being treated badly due to your reaction to the harassment. Follow the links below for further help and support:

You may feel that what you've experienced isn't 'serious' enough to report. But if someone has made you feel uncomfortable that is not okay and it is always best to report it. You will be able to get support and advice on what to do next.

If you have been sexually assaulted (which may include being emotionally manipulated or physically forced into performing a sexual act without your consent), you can report this to the police by dialling 999, 101, or visiting your local police station. It is always your choice whether to report something. If you need support, you can contact organisations like Rape Crisis.
Support others
If you've noticed it's happening to another person, try to check that person is okay and offer support in dealing with it. You could help them think about who to speak to next.

You can also report a crime on someone else's behalf, the police will keep a record of the incident and can help you support the person if needed.

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Dealing with sexual harassment If you have been sexually harassed, it is not your fault and no one should have to put up with it. We have listed a few steps below which could help you deal with it: Ask them to stop If you feel comfortable doing so, tell the person that you don't like what they are doing and you want it to stop.

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The Survivors Trust Resources site is an online platform designed to offer survivor-led resources and practical tools to help people affected by sexual violence and abuse, and their supporters navigate their journey of healing. We explore some of the common challenges that survivors may have including topics such as anxiety & panic; shame & guilt; intimacy; relationships; dissociation; sleep and much more.

The Survivors Trust delivers training to member charities, government agencies, police, health professionals, employers and schools to promote sensitive and informed responses to survivors. Our training is underpinned by a wealth of knowledge that comes from decades of experience working across the sexual violence and abuse sector.

Learn about our trauma-informed healthcare project #CheckWithMeFirst.

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charity rape sexual abuse exploitation support survivor victim counselling therapy help childhood men women raped the survivors trust

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National Umbrella Organisation for Specialist Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Services

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Brighton and Hove challenging sexist language

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Brighton and Hove challenging sexist language

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New ad campaign tackles everyday gender bias

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New ad campaign tackles everyday gender bias

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When you think of a doctor, do you think of a man or a woman? A new ad campaign delves into the assumptions we carry with us

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Toolkit with lessons around online sexual harassment

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Toolkit with lessons around online sexual harassment

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How many children experience sexual abuse?

We don't know exactly how many children in the UK experience sexual abuse. However, research with 2,275 young people aged 11-17 about their experiences of sexual abuse suggests around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused.

Sexual abuse is usually hidden from view. Adults in the child or young person's life may not recognise the signs of sexual abuse and the child may be too young, too scared or too ashamed to tell anyone what is happening to them.

There are a number of different sources of information, including data from services which work with children and research into children's and adults' self-reported experiences of abuse, which help build up a picture of the scale of abuse.

This briefing looks at what data and statistics are available about child sexual abuse to help professionals, and the organisations they work for, make evidence-based decisions.
> Browse for more statistics briefings

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Statistics on child sexual abuse | NSPCC Learning

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We don't know exactly how many children in the UK experience sexual abuse. However, research with 2,275 young people aged 11-17 about their experiences of sexual abuse suggests around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused. Sexual abuse is usually hidden from view.

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Are you being bullied?

If you are being bullied, or you are not ready to make a report to CEOP, you can talk to Childline anonymously online or on the phone - No worry is too big or too small.

Visit Childline

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Are you being bullied? If you are being bullied, or you are not ready to make a report to CEOP, you can talk to Childline anonymously online or on the phone - No worry is too big or too small. Visit Childline

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Use this tool to identify priority actions for tackling sexism.

Overview

A whole school approach to tackling sexism means that action to prevent sexism is sustained, comprehensive, guided by an over-arching framework and involves all members of the school community.

Use UK Feminista's audit tool to assess how well equipped your school is to tackle sexism and identify key actions you will take to implement a whole school approach to combatting sexism.

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Use this tool to identify priority actions for tackling sexism. A whole school approach to tackling sexism means that action to prevent sexism is sustained, comprehensive, guided by an over-arching framework and involves all members of the school community.

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Children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour

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Children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour

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Children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour | CSA Centre

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Harmful sexual behaviour is sexual behaviour by under-18s that may be harmful towards themselves or another child, young person or adult. This accessible overview is an update from an earlier 2018 version and&n

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All partners within the UK Safer Internet Centre are taking the necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of our amazing staff in light of the recent Coronavirus outbreak. We have activities in place to ensure all of our products and services are continuing to work to support you.

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Content warning: This section includes graphic sexual descriptions.

A nude image must include one of the following to be removed:

nude or semi-nude sexual posing

someone nude or semi-nude touching themselves in a sexual way

any sexual activity involving a child

someone hurting someone else sexually

sexual activity that includes animals.

Where possible, it is better if you can upload the original image or video, or a copy of it, rather than a photograph of it on another screen. This helps IWF find the image more accurately.

If you want to report something that isn't a nude image or video to see if it can be taken down, you can see more information from Childline about deleting things shared online here. You can make a report to CEOP, the part of the police who are there to support children and young people online. You can always speak to a Childline counsellor.

Confirming your age with ID gives us more legal powers to remove images from as many places as possible. If you don't have ID or feel comfortable using it, we can still take down images, but from fewer places.

You can use the following ID to confirm your identity using Yoti:

passport or biometric residence permit

driving licence and provisional licence

Young Scot Card (Yoti app only)

CitizenCard (Yoti app only).

If you don't have any of these, you can get a young person's ID card. You'll be able to get this for £5 with the promo code NSPCC5. Make sure you choose 'Yoti CitizenCard' on the first page.

Whatever ID you use, please make sure that it is valid and in-date.

IWF will read all reports within one working day, from Monday to Friday. The time it takes to get your image removed from the internet can be different depending on where the image is hosted.

If the image is on a UK-based website it can often be removed within 2-3 hours. Unfortunately, in some countries it can take longer - sometimes days or weeks. But IWF analysts will always try to make sure it happens as soon as possible.

We'll do our best to let you know once your image has been removed by sending a message to your  Childline locker.

We recommend you check your locker every few days after you make a report. This is so you can see if your image has been removed, and so Childline can let you know if IWF need more information to be able to remove it. Remember, IWF can't contact you directly.

If you need support to help you cope while you're waiting, you can also speak to a Childline counsellor any time.

When you use Report Remove, your image or video is shared with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). They'll work to get your image removed from the internet. See 'Who are the IWF?' to learn about how that happens.

Most of the time, nobody will know that you've made a report and your report won't be shared with anyone else.

If the police already have the image or video you report, then they might investigate what's happened. Only the police can decide if they'll need to tell someone else.

The police might already have your image or video if:

someone has reported it on another website and that website passed it to the police

they're investigating someone who had or has the image or video already (if someone is found to have your image and is breaking the law - regardless of how, it may be included as evidence in a criminal case against that person

someone else reported the image to them directly.

Remember that the police are there to protect you, not to get you into trouble. If the image has been reported somewhere else and you're worried, you can always  speak to a Childline counsellor.

If you have parental controls on your phone your parent or carer might see when you want to download a new app, so they might get a notification if you try to download Yoti and want to know why. To avoid this, use the second option to prove your age (called 'ID verification').

The IWF can remove images that are public or available to anyone on the internet. However, they won't be able to remove images or videos on encrypted networks like WhatsApp, or which are saved on a person's phone or computer.

If you're over 13 and you've made a report without using ID, then there may be some sites the IWF can't take images down from.

If you don't use ID the IWF can help by removing your image or video from most sites. If you do use ID, the IWF can remove from all sites

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK charity, are there to help remove illegal nude images of under 18s posted online.

Once the IWF has confirmed your nude image is against the law and can be removed from the internet they give it a digital fingerprint called a 'hash'. The hash can be used to find your image online even if it has been cropped or slightly changed.

Sharing just the hash with certain trusted companies and organisations, means that technology can be used to find online matches of the image - this is key to trying to stop it appearing in different places on the internet. Even though the hashes and images are shared with UK police, this is so that if they came across the image some other way, they'd know that you also reported it yourself. Report Remove was developed with the full support of the police and no one involved wants to get you into trouble for sharing the image so it can be removed.

Different companies use the hash in different ways. For example, if an illegal image match is found to have been shared by an online account holder, a company may decide to close that person's account as posting illegal images will be against the company's terms and conditions. If your image(s) are found on or are linked to your online user account(s) it may be possible for the company to associate your profile with the images.

The companies that take the hashes trust the Report Remove process, however if they have significant concerns that the person in the image may not be the person who was age verified, they may get in touch with the IWF to raise their concerns.

There are 3 organisations that help you report your image using Report Remove. These are Childline, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and also Yoti if you are 13 or older and choose to prove your age using ID. All of them have a responsibility to keep all of your personal information safe.

1. We'll ask you to choose your age range (under 13, 13-15, 16-17, 18 and over). If you're under 13, you'll go straight to step 3. If you're aged 13 or older, us at Childline will ask you if you have access to ID to prove your age. If you do, you'll be asked to visit Yoti. The only information we will share with Yoti is that you are wanting to prove your age to use Report Remove.

2. Once you prove your age using Yoti, you will come back to Report Remove on Childline. The only information Yoti will share with Childline is confirmation that you're younger or older than 18.

3. We'll then ask you to create or sign in to a Childline account. Then you'll go to the IWF website to share the content you want removed. Childline will only share the information below with IWF:

that you're younger than 18 (either confirmed by Yoti, or that you told us you are younger than 18),

the age range you selected at the start,

a unique number that is created when you use Report Remove.

4. After your report has been passed to the IWF, they will tell Childline if they were able to work to take the images or video down from the internet, and why. This is so Childline can let you know what happened. IWF may also tell Childline some information about what you reported, to help them know how best to support you and keep you safe. IWF will never share an image or video that you report with Childline.

Information you give to Childline
Any information you give Childline will always be treated carefully and in line with our  Privacy Policy. This means that any information you give us as part of Report Remove will only be used to help the IWF review your report and to keep you safe. This will include the age range that you select and a unique number that's created when you go onto the IWF website. We will not share any of your information with Yoti.
Information you give to IWF
The only information you will give to the IWF are the images, videos or URLs you report. There is space to add information such as where the image or video is on a webpage.

They will process this in line with their privacy policy.

Nude images and videos that IWF decide are illegal may be kept by the IWF for up to 2 years. This is because there is an agreement with the Police and CPS (Crime Prosecution Service), called a 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MOU). Illegal images are given a hash (a string of numbers that are like a digital fingerprint). The hash is shared with organisations such as technology companies who host online content, so that they can look for the image and take it down. The actual image is not shared with these companies. The image and the hash are shared with the police who store it on their Child Abuse Image Database. Any images or videos that they decide are not illegal may be kept for a maximum of 6 months for quality checking and any follow up questions. They will then be deleted. Sometimes, even if it's decided that the content isn't illegal, IWF can share the content URL with some industry members to see if they can take the content down.

If you report a URL (link to a webpage), and choose not to prove your age using ID, IWF will still check to see if the content is something they can take action on. If so IWF may share the URL with South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), who are a charity who help people who have had intimate images of them shared online. SWGfL will never view the content on a URL that is shared with them. SWGfL send a notice to internet companies that host the webpage you reported, to tell them to take it down. This is because IWF can only send a notice to companies to take a specific webpage down when it is confirmed it is of a child. SWGfL can also send notice to take down content, but they do not need to prove it is of a child. This helps get your images or videos from even more places.

Childline will never see what pictures, videos or URLs you share with the IWF. The only information the IWF shares with Childline apart from your case number is whether or not they could take down your images or videos, and why, so we can let you know, as well as information about the image or video that you reported that will help Childline to support you and keep you safe.

Information you give to Yoti
You can choose to use Yoti to confirm your age if you're over 13. This may involve taking a selfie, so Yoti know it is you who are proving your age, and uploading a picture of some ID. Any personal data you send Yoti - like your photo, date of birth or address - is scrambled with a high level of encryption so that even if it was stolen, no one could use it to identify you. The only information Yoti shares with Childline is confirmation that you're under or over 18.

You can see Yoti's privacy policy here, and more information about their age portal here, which is what is used in Report Remove to prove your age.

If you're using the Yoti app, Yoti may use the selfie, month and year of birth you add to the Yoti app to improve its age estimation technology. You can opt out from this in the More> My Data> Biometric consent menu of the app.

There are lots of ways to get help with your report:

if you're having problems with Yoti, you can contact them directly in the app.

if you need any support with making your report send a message to Childline with the title 'Report Remove'.

Childline counsellors are always here for you and want to help. And you can  talk to them  about anything you're going through.
I have a technical issue, what should I do?

Try using your default browser and close private browsing if you're using the Yoti app.

See if you can log in to your locker and send an email to Childline explaining your problem and the team will be able to help.

Make sure the ID you're using is valid and in-date (not expired).

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Use Report Remove to remove a nude image shared online

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Creative activities around young people’s voice and positive change

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Making Positive Relationships Matter with Children and Young People - Agenda Online

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From consent and body image to gender and sexuality equalities and rights, this section is full of case studies which show just how creative you can be in supporting children and young people to explore and express what matters to them. Many of the case studies include examples of how you can adapt different ...

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Internet Watch Foundation - report content online

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Internet Watch Foundation - report content online

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Report Remove

Worried about how to support a young person who has had a sexual image or video of themselves shared online? If they're under 18, they can use Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation's discreet Report Remove tool to see if it can be taken down.

Find out more

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Worried about how to support a young person who has had a sexual image or video of themselves shared online? If they're under 18, they can use Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation's discreet Report Remove tool to see if it can be taken down. Find out more

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Anti-bullying Alliance Sexual bullying guidance

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Anti-bullying Alliance Sexual bullying guidance

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Films on various PSHE areas

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Bryony shares her heartbreaking but hopeful story about living with cerebral palsy, PTSD and anxiety - and describes how people don't always notice or understand these 'hidden disabilities'.

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Bryony shares her heartbreaking but hopeful story about living with cerebral palsy, PTSD and anxiety - and describes how people don't always notice or understand these 'hidden disabilities'.

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Various PSHE

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RSHE (PSHE) lessons for Key Stage 3 students - Oak National Academy

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Free online RSHE (PSHE) lessons for Key Stage 3 students

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The Step Up, Speak Up! Teaching Toolkit is a practical, interactive and scenario-based resource which addresses the issue of online sexual harassment amongst 13-17 year olds.

About this toolkit

This toolkit is comprised of 4 lesson plans with accompanying films, an audio story, workshops and an assembly presentation.

Teaching toolkit resources

Donate

Even a small donation can support the development of our online safety resources and help our Education Team to connect with more children and young people.
Donate

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Practical, scenario-based teaching resources to address the issue of online sexual harassment with 13-17 year olds.

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Outside the Box: Promoting Gender Equality & Tackling Sexual Harassment in Schools - EqualiTeach

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Outside the Box is a resource for those working with young people, supporting them to promote gender equality tand tackle sexism and sexual harassment.

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NSPCC Harmful Sexual Behaviour framework

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NSPCC Harmful Sexual Behaviour framework

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2nd edition

This framework helps local areas develop and improve multi-agency responses to children displaying harmful sexual behaviour (HSB). It provides a coordinated, systematic and evidence-based approach to recognising and responding to the risks and needs of this vulnerable group.

The framework was developed by the NSPCC, Research in Practice and Professor Simon Hackett with input from a number of national organisations, local authorities and subject experts.

This new version updates and replaces the previous framework published in 2016.

Authors: Simon Hackett, Pat Branigan and Dez Holmes
Published: 2019

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HSB framework and audit | NSPCC Learning

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Helping local areas develop and improve multi-agency responses to children displaying harmful sexual behaviours (HSB). Developed by the NSPCC, Research in Practice and Professor Simon Hackett. Includes HSB continuum.

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Skip to content

Resources

Lesson plans, quick activities, a quiz and teaching guide designed to explore problematic online sexual behaviour with 9-12 year olds.

Educators of all children aged 9-12 years old.

Three lesson plans

Quick activities

An interactive quiz

Teaching Guide

This toolkit explores problematic online sexual behaviour, with a focus on online sexual harassment e.g. bullying or harmful behaviour online based on gender or sexual orientation stereotypes, body-shaming, nudity and sexually explicit content.

In resources that are used or seen by children,we use the term 'cyberbullying' and refer to the specific type - cyberbullying that uses gender stereotypes, body shaming or nude images. This is because we know the words 'sexual' and 'harassment' may not be understood, used or appropriate for 9-12 year olds.

To support educators in delivering high quality PSHE/PSE and relationships education lessons.

To give children a safe space to discuss, explore and challenge peer to peer online sexual harassment e.g. bullying or harmful behaviour online based on gender or sexual orientation stereotypes, body-shaming, nudity and sexually explicit content.

To discuss with children how they can be good friends online.

To raise awareness of this issue to prevent it from becoming normalised.

To give children the confidence to report unacceptable online behaviour.

This toolkit for 9-12 year olds follows on from the creation of the 'Step Up, Speak Up!' toolkit for 13-17 year olds. Feedback on these resources showed the need and desire for a toolkit to address this topic with a younger age group; this is where the beginnings of online sexual harassment were being noticed, and a need to challenge it early was identified.

Find more information about the project and its beginnings here.

This toolkit focuses on peer-to-peer online sexual harassment (taking place between children who know, or know of, each other).

This is not a resource about online grooming. For further advice and resources to address adult sexual behaviour towards children online, or to report this issue or any other concerns around online grooming, please visit ceop.police.uk.

For

Topics

Type

Donate

Even a small donation can support the development of our online safety resources and help our Education Team to connect with more children and young people.
Donate

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Lesson plans, quick activities, a quiz and teaching guide designed to explore problematic online sexual behaviour with 9-12 year olds.

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Identifying and engaging with those at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation

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Identifying and engaging with those at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation

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We have been developing tools and resources in Wales to help identify and engage young people at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA).

Our work

Better Futures Cymru is a service that provides assessment and longer term therapeutic intervention services for children and young people with sexualised histories across Wales.

We know that building trust and establishing a positive relationship is crucial to any successful intervention. Research has shown that young people who are abused, exploited, or who engage in risky sexual behaviours often feel guilt and shame. They may feel defined by this behaviour - which affects their level of openness and willingness to engage.

We want to develop a trusting and non-judgemental relationship with the young person. From the start, we focus on problem free discussions and activities in order to establish a meaningful connection in which both participants feel valued and have worth in the relationship.

A high percentage of the children we work with have experienced significant trauma. That might be sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, domestic abuse or neglect. Our work takes these factors into consideration, and includes therapeutic approaches and techniques to address the issues that may occur as a result of these experiences.

In supporting young people to process their past trauma, we are able to allow them to develop healthy romantic and sexual relationships in their future.

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Resources to help identify and engage young people at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation

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We have been developing tools and resources in Wales to help identify and engage young people at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). Better Futures Cymru is a service that provides assessment and longer term therapeutic intervention services for children and young people with sexualised histories across Wales.

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HWB.GOV.WALES uses cookies which are essential for the site to work. Non-essential cookies are also used to tailor and improve services. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies.

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HWB.GOV.WALES uses cookies which are essential for the site to work. Non-essential cookies are also used to tailor and improve services. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies.

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Alice Ruggles Trust | Putting an end to stalking

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Relationship safety resource | Alice Ruggles Trust

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Free materials, aimed at key stage 4 (14- to 16-year-old) students, promoting awareness of unhealthy relationship behaviours and stalking in order to help protect young people from the potential risks.

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Welcome to the Beyond Referrals Toolkit page. Beyond Referrals was a four year project funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. The project worked with schools and voluntary and community sector organisations to help them respond to extra-familial harm. There were four different parts to the Beyond Referrals project.

Harmful sexual behaviour in schools: worked with schools to address harmful sexual behaviour in schools.

Multi-agency responses: worked with multi-agency partners to consider how they respond to HSB in schools

Extra-familial harm in schools: expanded the harmful sexual behaviour tool for use with all forms of extra-familial harm.

Towards Safety: Worked with VCS partners to create the Towards Safety tool for VCS organisations.

You can access each of the toolkits for the projects below.

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Beyond Referrals | Contextual Safeguarding

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The Beyond Referrals toolkits include resources for schools, VCS organisations and multi-agency partners to help them address harmful sexual behaviour and extra-familial harm.

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The latest news and features on our work and activities across the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

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Leadership responses to harmful sexual behaviour in schools

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Leadership responses to harmful sexual behaviour in schools

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The Consent Coalition

The Consent Coalition is a group of organisations within Nottingham who are working together to raise awareness of the importance of consent, banish myths about rape and sexual violence and encourage survivors and victims to access support and report any sexual violence.

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The Consent Coalition is a group of organisations within Nottingham who are working together to raise awareness of the importance of consent, banish myths about rape and sexual violence and encourage survivors and victims to access support and report any sexual violence.

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Hide the Signs You've Been on This Website

Internet browsers normally save certain information as you use the Internet. This includes words you've searched, and a history of the sites you've visited. If you're worried that someone at home will look at what you've done online, the safest option is to use a computer at a local library, a friend's house, or at work. You can also reduce the chance that someone will discover your internet activities by following these instructions to clear your internet history.

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Equation | Domestic Violence Nottinghamshire

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Hide the Signs You've Been on This Website Internet browsers normally save certain information as you use the Internet. This includes words you've searched, and a history of the sites you've visited. If you're worried that someone at home will look at what you've done online, the safest option is to use a computer at a local library, a friend's house, or at work.

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Young men, masculinity and misogyny | YouGov

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A major new YouGov survey questions the extent to which the attitudes of young men towards women are different to their elders

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UKFEMINISTA activities for primary schools to combat gender stereotyping

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UKFEMINISTA activities for primary schools to combat gender stereotyping

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Classroom activities and guidance for primary schools – UK Feminista

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Working for a society in which women and girls live free from sexism and male violence

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KS2 stopping sexism lesson included

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Outside the Box: Promoting Gender Equality & Tackling Sexual Harassment in Schools - EqualiTeach

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Outside the Box is a resource for those working with young people, supporting them to promote gender equality tand tackle sexism and sexual harassment.

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Oak National Academy - are all friends the same?

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Oak National Academy - are all friends the same?

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Includes lessons on understanding gender stereotypes and stopping sexism in school.

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Healthy relationships: Are all friends the same? KS2 | Y4 RSHE (PSHE) | Lesson Resources

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Free lessons and teaching resources about healthy relationships: are all friends the same?

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Resources

Lesson plans, quick activities, a quiz and teaching guide designed to explore problematic online sexual behaviour with 9-12 year olds.

Educators of all children aged 9-12 years old.

Three lesson plans

Quick activities

An interactive quiz

Teaching Guide

This toolkit explores problematic online sexual behaviour, with a focus on online sexual harassment e.g. bullying or harmful behaviour online based on gender or sexual orientation stereotypes, body-shaming, nudity and sexually explicit content.

In resources that are used or seen by children,we use the term 'cyberbullying' and refer to the specific type - cyberbullying that uses gender stereotypes, body shaming or nude images. This is because we know the words 'sexual' and 'harassment' may not be understood, used or appropriate for 9-12 year olds.

To support educators in delivering high quality PSHE/PSE and relationships education lessons.

To give children a safe space to discuss, explore and challenge peer to peer online sexual harassment e.g. bullying or harmful behaviour online based on gender or sexual orientation stereotypes, body-shaming, nudity and sexually explicit content.

To discuss with children how they can be good friends online.

To raise awareness of this issue to prevent it from becoming normalised.

To give children the confidence to report unacceptable online behaviour.

This toolkit for 9-12 year olds follows on from the creation of the 'Step Up, Speak Up!' toolkit for 13-17 year olds. Feedback on these resources showed the need and desire for a toolkit to address this topic with a younger age group; this is where the beginnings of online sexual harassment were being noticed, and a need to challenge it early was identified.

Find more information about the project and its beginnings here.

This toolkit focuses on peer-to-peer online sexual harassment (taking place between children who know, or know of, each other).

This is not a resource about online grooming. For further advice and resources to address adult sexual behaviour towards children online, or to report this issue or any other concerns around online grooming, please visit ceop.police.uk.

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Lesson plans, quick activities, a quiz and teaching guide designed to explore problematic online sexual behaviour with 9-12 year olds.

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cco talking to your child about online sexual harassment a-guide for parents dec 2021

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Parents’ guide to talking to children about sexual harassment 

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Parents’ guide to talking to children about sexual harassment 

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Preventing sexism & sexual harassment | National Education Union

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This toolkit aims to help NEU members take the steps needed to prevent sexism and sexual harassment.

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NSPCC Harmful Sexual Behaviour online training

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NSPCC Harmful Sexual Behaviour online training

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Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) training | NSPCC Learning

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Elearning to help you confidently recognise incidents of HSB and know how to respond appropriately. Designed by experts at the NSPCC.

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Tender Respect and Healthy Relationships Toolkit

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Tender Respect and Healthy Relationships Toolkit

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Toolkit for primary teachers to help support children and young people aged 9-11 to develop healthy relationships based on equality and respect

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Ending Gender-Based Violence and Abuse in Young People’s Relationships

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Activities, resources and useful links for schools and colleges working with young people aged 11-18