What is child sexual abuse?

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Child Sexual Abuse Includes Touching and Non-Touching Activity

Touching activity includes:

• Touching a child's genitals or private parts for sexual pleasure
• Making a child touch someone else's genitals, play sexual games or have sex
• Putting objects or body parts (like fingers, tongue or penis) inside the vagina, in the mouth or in the anus of a child for sexual pleasure

Non-touching activity includes:

• Showing pornography to a child
• Deliberately exposing an adult's genitals to a child
• Photographing a child in sexual poses
• Encouraging a child to watch or hear sexual acts

Sexually abusive images of children and the Internet

As well as the activities described above, there is also the serious and growing problem of people making and downloading sexual images of children on the Internet. To view sexually abusive images of children is to participate in the abuse of a child and those who do so may also be abusing children they know. People who look at this material need help to prevent their behaviour from becoming even more serious.

If you come across a site that contains images of child abuse you can report it to the Internet Watch Foundation. For links to sites with help and advice for parents, children and teachers visit our useful links and information page and click on Internet Safety
Sites.