Listening to children and young people's experiences of disclosing child sexual abuse: insights for the proposed mandatory reporting duty in England and Wales

Abstract

A central recommendation from the Independent Inquiry for Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA, 2022)1 was the introduction of a mandatory reporting duty in England and Wales for disclosures of child sexual abuse. To help understand the potential implications of this proposal, we commissioned researchers from the University of Bedfordshire to review the evidence on:

* the barriers to disclosure children and young people face * the motivators and facilitators that help them to disclose sexual abuse

* their experiences following disclosure. The evidence review focuses on 43 papers and reports from international research with children and young people about their experiences or views on disclosing sexual abuse. The review identifies a number of key insights to inform thinking on the proposed mandatory reporting duty. It also highlights gaps in the current research, including a lack of consideration of the reporting systems in place in the countries in which children disclosed abuse, and limited research into children’s perspectives and experiences of those systems. The report recommends further direct research with children and young people to inform the design of any proposed system.