No.47: Harmful sexual behaviour

Overview of Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB)

Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) is developmentally inappropriate sexual behaviour which is displayed by children and young people and which may be harmful or abusive (derived from Hackett, 2014). It may also be referred to as sexually harmful behaviour or sexualised behaviour – NSPCC 2021

As an education setting it is important you identify and respond to all sexual behaviours and not just wait until they become harmful.

Identifying incidents of sexual behaviour

You must consider all incidents of sexual behaviour and identify if they are healthy, concerning or harmful. Each type of sexual behaviour may need you to take action. This may include positive reinforcement for healthy sexual behaviour, or support for concerning and harmful sexual behaviour.

It is vital that all staff understand the importance of recording all incidents of sexual behaviour and peer on peer abuse even if it feels ‘low level’. You must not use ‘banter’ as a reason for children using sexually inappropriate language.

• Do you have a specific category when recording safeguarding concerns to enable the Designated Safeguarding
  Lead (DSL) to track data on sexual behaviour and respond appropriately?
• Can you evidence action taken after multiple incidents of ‘low level’ inappropriate sexual language or
  behaviour? Have you undertaken a case audit to reflect on the concerns raised and make an informed decision
  on escalating the case?
• Are you confident that all staff have a clear understanding on what problematic and harmful sexual behaviour
  looks like for children in your education setting? Can you evidence when staff last had training on HSB?
• Are staff confident at challenging concerning sexual behaviour immediately? Do they feel skilled enough to be
  able to challenge calmly and be clear on why the behaviour is concerning?
• Have you undertaken a School Contextual Safeguarding Audit to identify any vulnerabilities to your education
  setting? And taken appropriate action to address any identified vulnerabilities?
• Have you undertaken student voice exercises to hear from your children their own lived experiences and any
  concerns they may have?
• Do you have robust systems in place to enable children to report concerns to a trusted adult?
• Do parents / carers know how to report concerns appropriately to your education setting?
• Do you have a robust and relevant RSE policy which ensures children are regularly taught about healthy sexual
  behaviours?

Assessing if the sexual behaviour is problematic or harmful

It is important that you don’t just consider the behaviour in isolation and that you take into account any SEN which may impact on developmental age of a child.

What is the specific incident that has taken place?

• Is it an isolated incident or part of a pattern? – Check Safeguarding Files.
• Is the incident part of a pattern which indicates a culture that needs to be addressed? Maybe in a
  certain year group?
• Who has been impacted by the incident? Who initiated the behaviour and who was impacted (consider
  bystanders too)

You will need to make a judgment on the level of risk / concern that the sexual behaviour may pose.

There are a number of professional toolkits which will help you make an informed decision. These toolkits include:

• DfE – Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges.
• NSPCC – Harmful sexual behaviour framework
• BROOK – Traffic Light Tool

Supporting children who display problematic or harmful sexual behaviours

The most important part in supporting children who are presenting concerning and harmful sexual behaviour is that you do not provide the support in isolation. It is important that the child, parents / carers and other professionals are involved in assessing the concerns and putting a robust support plan in place.

If a child is displaying harmful sexual behaviour a referral to Children’s Social Care and / or Police will be required. If a child is displaying concerning sexual behaviour a referral to Children’s Social care may be require or a coordinated approach at Early Help may be more appropriate and beneficial. Concerning Sexual Behaviour may also be termed problematic or inappropriate.

Please reference DfE – Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges for further advice and guidance.

If an incident of harmful sexual behaviour is disclosed school will play a pivotal role in supporting all children involved. If the instigator of the harmful sexual behaviour attends the same education setting as the children impacted by the harmful sexual behaviour this can often be a complex situation to manage. It is vital that the school take a lead from Police and/or Children’s Social Services and use DfE – Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges in their decision making. Education settings must also ensure that there are robust risk assessments in place which are regularly reviewed.

Things for the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) to consider:

• If the incident happened in the education setting what measures have been taken to reduce any associated risks?
• If the incident happened in school is the school placement at risk for the instigator of the harmful sexual behaviour – exclusions/ managed move?
• Is the instigator of the harmful sexual behaviour safe when they return to the education placement – how much does the wider school community know? Will they be targeted by the wider school community?
• How much does the local community know? If you are alerted to an incident where the instigator of the harmful sexual behaviour is being harassed or is at risk in the community this may need to be alerted to other agencies.
• How is the education setting going to ensure that all children involved in the incident still have appropriate and full access to their education pending any police investigation or social worker enquiry?

Concerning Sexual Behaviour

Behaviour that is a concern, this may be due to the child’s age and the behaviour being developmentally concerning or it may be outside of social norms. If another child is involved there may be concerns regarding consent or there may be concerns regarding power imbalance.

Harmful Sexual Behaviour

Is behaviour that is abusive or violent. There may be concerns regarding misuse of power, coercion or violence.

Healthy Sexual Behaviour

Is behaviour that is developmentally typical and expected for a child of that age. It is socially acceptable and if it involves another child it is consensual and has been mutually agreed.

Some of these things to consider can be incredibly complex to manage and difficult if you have the instigator of the harmful sexual behaviour and the children who have been impacted by the harmful sexual behaviour in the same education setting. It is important to work alongside parents/carers to put measures in place to balance access to education and risks associated with the behaviour displayed. This can also be incredibly challenging if there are disputes over the exact details of the incident which the police are investigating. Education settings must ensure they are referencing key government guidance and legislation as part of their decision making process when managing incidents of harmful sexual behaviour.

Resources

• Contextual Safeguarding Network: Beyond Referrals – Schools
• Devon Safer Me Assessment (ASF): Adolescent Safety Framework (Safer Me) – Devon Childrens’ and Families Partnership
• NSPCC: Harmful sexual behaviour framework | NSPCC Learning
• Stop It Now: Worried about a young person or child’s sexual behaviour
• AMAZE – Age appropriate info on puberty for tweens and their parents
• NSPCC – Let’s talk PANTS: Talk PANTS & Join Pantosaurus – The Underwear Rule