Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Ethnic Minority Communities

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) happens in all communities—however, victims and survivors from ethnic minority communities face particular barriers to disclosure and support after experiencing CSA. Prior research in this area has indicated the systemic failures of institutions to protect ethnic minority children from CSA (Webb et al. in Child Abuse Review 11:394–410, 2002) and has identified intra-cultural barriers, such as gendered norms and shame to disclosure (Gill and Harrison in British Journal of Criminology, 17:267–284, 2019). This study examines how ethnicity, community and culture have contributed to shaping victims/survivors’ experiences. Completed by researchers from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in conjunction with members of the Race Equality Foundation, the study adopted a thematic analysis approach, drawing on the voices of 82 participants from ethnic minority communities in 11 focus groups across England and Wales. It found that cultural stereotypes and racisms negatively affected the support services’ ability to identify CSA and to enact appropriate responses.