This page covers child sexual abuse (CSA)
Child sexual abuse is the broader category. It includes abuse within the family, by trusted adults, and between peers. It is distinct from — but overlaps with — child sexual exploitation (CSE), which involves an element of grooming and exchange. For exploitation-specific guidance, see our Child Sexual Exploitation hub. For peer-on-peer sexual violence, see our peer-on-peer abuse guide.
On This Page
What Is Child Sexual Abuse?
Statutory definition — Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026:
"Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children."
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, Annex B
Three points from the definition warrant emphasis. First, the child's awareness is irrelevant — sexual abuse does not require the child to understand that what is happening is abuse. Second, violence is not required — most child sexual abuse involves manipulation, coercion, and emotional pressure rather than physical force. Third, perpetrators are not exclusively male adults — women and other children can perpetrate sexual abuse.
Contact and Non-Contact Abuse
C Contact Sexual Abuse
Any sexual activity involving physical contact between the perpetrator and the child.
- ● Rape and assault by penetration
- ● Oral sex
- ● Masturbation (of or by the child)
- ● Touching of genitalia, breasts, or buttocks
- ● Sexual kissing or inappropriate intimate touching
- ● Making a child perform sexual acts on another person
NC Non-Contact Sexual Abuse
Sexual harm that does not involve direct physical contact — equally serious and, in the online environment, increasingly prevalent.
- ● Showing a child pornographic images or videos
- ● Involving a child in the production of sexual images or video
- ● Sexual conversations online or by message
- ● Exposing a child to sexual activity (indecent exposure)
- ● Grooming a child for abuse via the internet or in person
- ● Encouraging a child to behave in sexually inappropriate ways
Child Sexual Abuse vs Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
CSA is the broader category. CSE is a form of CSA in which a child is manipulated or coerced into sexual activity in exchange for something — money, gifts, drugs, affection, status, or accommodation. A child who is exploited is being sexually abused. But not all CSA is exploitation. Abuse within the family by a carer or family member is CSA, not typically CSE. Both require immediate safeguarding action. See our CSE hub for exploitation-specific guidance.
How Perpetrators Operate: Grooming
Most child sexual abuse is preceded by a period of grooming — a deliberate, systematic process by which a perpetrator builds trust with a child (and often their family) in order to gain access and ensure silence. Understanding grooming is essential because perpetrators rarely look like predators — they look like trusted, likeable, helpful adults.
Stage 1: Target selection
Perpetrators typically select children who are vulnerable — those with low self-esteem, chaotic home environments, a need for adult attention, a disability, or prior trauma. Children who are isolated or whose parents have limited capacity to monitor online or social activity are at higher risk.
Stage 2: Trust building
The perpetrator invests in building a relationship — offering special attention, gifts, compliments, and a sense of being uniquely understood. They often befriend the family too, building credibility and access. This stage can take months or years.
Stage 3: Isolation
The perpetrator creates one-to-one time with the child — through babysitting, tutoring, sporting activities, online messaging, or simply finding reasons to be alone together. They may gently discourage the child from talking about their relationship with others.
Stage 4: Desensitisation
Boundaries are gradually eroded — first through affectionate physical contact that is normalised ("it's just a hug"), then through increasingly sexualised language, images, or behaviour. The child may be encouraged to keep "their relationship" secret.
Stage 5: Maintaining control
Once abuse begins, perpetrators use shame, guilt, threats, and manipulation to maintain silence. "You wanted it." "No one will believe you." "If you tell, I'll go to prison and your family will fall apart." The child's genuine confusion about whether what happened was wrong — and their loyalty to someone they trusted — makes disclosure profoundly difficult.
Warning Signs by Age Group
No single indicator confirms sexual abuse. These signs should be taken seriously when they are persistent, appear without an obvious alternative explanation, or occur in clusters alongside contextual risk factors.
0-4 Infants and Under-5s
- ● Sexualised play or language far beyond what is developmentally expected
- ● Unexplained anal or genital injuries
- ● Pain, itching, soreness, or bleeding in the genital or anal area with no medical explanation
- ● Fear of a particular adult — distress when left alone with them
- ● Regression — bedwetting, thumb-sucking, loss of previously acquired skills
5-10 Primary School Age
- ● Age-inappropriate sexual knowledge or vocabulary
- ● Sexualised drawings or stories during free expression activities
- ● Compulsive or inappropriate sexual behaviour towards peers
- ● Withdrawal, anxiety, or sudden change in behaviour without an obvious trigger
- ● Frequent physical complaints — headaches, stomach aches, refusing school
- ● An unusual or intense attachment to one adult — or marked avoidance of one adult
11-15 Secondary School Age
- ● Self-harm — cutting, burning, or other forms of self-injury
- ● Eating disorders or significant weight change
- ● Alcohol or drug misuse — particularly as a coping strategy
- ● A secretive relationship with an older individual
- ● Significant drop in academic attainment without a learning explanation
- ● Age-inappropriate sexual behaviour or promiscuity
- ● Running away, going missing, staying with adults whose identity is unclear
16+ Older Teenagers
- ● Disclosing past abuse, often minimised ("it wasn't that bad")
- ● Suicidal ideation or attempts
- ● Unhealthy or controlling relationships — possibly re-enacting dynamics of abuse
- ● Unwanted pregnancy or STI in a young person who has not disclosed sexual activity
- ● Vulnerability to online sexual exploitation — sharing images, adult strangers online
SEND-specific vulnerabilities
Children with special educational needs and disabilities face significantly elevated risk of sexual abuse. Contributing factors include: communication difficulties limiting ability to disclose; reliance on physical care routines that normalise intimate contact; limited understanding of bodily autonomy; and difficulty distinguishing appropriate from inappropriate touch. Staff supporting children with SEND should receive specific safeguarding training. See our SEND safeguarding guide.
Responding to a Disclosure
How you respond in the first minutes of a disclosure can determine whether a child feels safe enough to say more — and whether the case can be successfully investigated. The guiding principles are React, Reassure, Report.
✓ DO
- ● Stay calm. Your reaction will influence whether the child continues. Do not show shock, disgust, or disbelief.
- ● Listen carefully. Do not interrupt. Let the child use their own words.
- ● Reassure them it is not their fault — explicitly. "What you're telling me is very brave. None of this is your fault."
- ● Use open, general prompts if needed: "Tell me more about that." "What happened next?"
- ● Tell them what will happen next — that you will need to share this with someone who can help, because your job is to keep them safe.
- ● Write down what was said immediately afterwards — in the child's own words, with the exact time.
- ● Report to your DSL without delay.
✗ DO NOT
- ● Promise to keep it secret
- ● Ask leading questions ("Did he touch you there?") — this can contaminate evidence and affect prosecution
- ● Express disbelief or challenge what the child says
- ● Investigate the allegation yourself
- ● Confront the alleged perpetrator
- ● Contact the child's parents if the alleged perpetrator could be a family member — speak to MASH first
- ● Delay reporting because you are unsure whether it is "serious enough"
Online Child Sexual Abuse
Online child sexual abuse is not a separate category — it is sexual abuse conducted via digital means. Referrals to CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command) exceeded 92,000 in 2023/24, a record high. Online abuse can include grooming via social media or gaming platforms, the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and live-streamed abuse.
Warning signs of online sexual abuse
- Secretive about online activity — closing screens when adults approach
- Receiving unexplained gifts, money, or phone top-ups
- New contacts on social media whose identity cannot be verified
- Spending very long periods online, particularly at night
- Emotional changes after being online — distress, withdrawal, or shame
- Unwillingness to discuss their online activity with parents or carers
Key platforms and risks (2026)
- Online gaming with chat functionality — a primary grooming vector for young boys
- Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok DMs — used for contact and sharing images
- Discord servers — often unmoderated, with adult-to-child contact
- Dating apps — accessible to children despite age verification requirements
- Generative AI and deepfakes — increasingly used to produce CSAM
Reporting online child sexual abuse
- ● CEOP: ceop.police.uk — report online child sexual abuse directly to police
- ● Internet Watch Foundation: iwf.org.uk — report child sexual abuse images online
- ● Do not download, forward, or attempt to view images — contact police immediately
Guidance for Schools & DSLs
Creating an environment where children can disclose
Most victims of sexual abuse are more likely to disclose to a trusted adult in their school than to a professional or a parent. Building a school culture where children know they will be believed, not blamed, and where trusted adults are accessible, is a meaningful protective factor. Relationships and sex education (RSE), delivered well, also gives children the language to name what is happening and to understand that it is wrong.
KCSIE 2025: the mandatory reporting context
KCSIE 2025 retains the requirement that all staff report concerns about sexual abuse to the DSL without delay. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 creates specific offences including sexual activity with a child, causing or inciting sexual activity, and engaging in sexual communication with a child — and these apply to professionals in positions of trust under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Any sexual relationship between a teacher and a pupil (even one aged 16 or 17) is a criminal offence.
Peer-on-peer sexual abuse in schools
Sexual abuse can be perpetrated by other children. Where a child aged under 10 exhibits sexually harmful behaviour towards another child, this requires assessment rather than criminalisation. For children aged 10 and above, harmful sexual behaviour may attract criminal investigation. Schools must have a process for responding to peer-on-peer sexual violence and harassment. See our dedicated peer-on-peer abuse guide.
What to do if you suspect a colleague
If you have concerns that a member of staff has abused or is at risk of abusing a child, you must refer to the designated person for allegations (usually the headteacher or nominated governor) and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). Do not investigate yourself, and do not raise the concern with the individual. See our LADO guide for the full process.
How to Refer
Threshold for Referral
Any disclosure or reasonable suspicion of child sexual abuse must be referred to children's social care via your local MASH without delay. The threshold is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm — not proof. Sexual abuse of a child under 16 always constitutes significant harm under the Children Act 1989. You do not need certainty to refer. You do not need the child's consent.
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1
Report to your DSL immediately after a disclosure
Do not wait until the end of the day. Take your written record of what was said directly to the DSL — same session if possible.
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2
Contact your local MASH
Find your local contact at our MASH finder. MASH will decide whether to refer to police under a s.47 joint investigation.
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3
CEOP for online abuse
Where the abuse involved online contact, image production, or grooming via digital means, report directly to CEOP at ceop.police.uk in addition to your local MASH referral.
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4
Do not inform the alleged perpetrator
Speak to MASH before contacting the child's family if the alleged perpetrator is a parent, family member, or someone with access to the child. MASH will advise on notification.
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5
Confirm in writing within 24 hours
Follow up any verbal referral in writing. Retain a copy and note who you spoke to, what was agreed, and by when.