Preventing youth perpetration of sexual violence in two Aboriginal communities

Objectives By the end of the workshop participants will be able to use a new tool to help them develop a strategy to prevent child sexual abuse. Methods A real-life case study will be used to illustrate how a new... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives
By the end of the workshop participants will be able to use a new tool to help them develop a strategy to prevent child sexual abuse.

Methods
A real-life case study will be used to illustrate how a new evidence-informed tool is being used to develop and implement strategies to prevent youth sexual violence in two different settings, one rural, one urban, each involving Aboriginal communities. Participants will then be invited to use the tool to identify programmes and approaches that are relevant to their own context and culture.

Results
The Lucy Faithfull Foundation has gathered information on around 200 evidence -informed child sexual abuse prevention interventions from around the world. Using a framework by Smallbone, Wortley and Marshall (2008), these interventions have been organised by prevention level and audience into a resource (the ECSA toolkit) to help strategy development to prevent different forms of child sexual abuse. The Smallbone framework is currently being used in practice in two settings in Australia where youth perpetration of sexual violence is a significant problem. This experience, which involves two Aboriginal communities, will be used to illustrate the application of the ECSA tool in different situations.

Conclusions
Child sexual abuse is a major social problem across the globe. A range of evidence-informed approaches to prevent and respond to this form of abuse now exist and can be adapted for use with different communities, including Aboriginal communities. The ECSA tool can help to develop prevention strategies tailored to local needs and strengths.