Preventing child sexual abuse before it occurs: examining the scale and nature of secondary public health prevention approaches

ABSTRACT Preventing child sexual abuse (CSA) requires comprehensive multi-agency criminal justice and public health approaches. Yet, marginal attention has been given to secondary prevention strategies that target “at risk” populations. Thus, we carried out a scoping review examining secondary prevention interventions for people at risk of sexual offending by considering their effectiveness, challenges and barriers. We identified N = 43 sources and completed a qualitative analysis. Our appraisal found five themes: (a) essential features needed for secondary prevention programmes (plus summary of interventions); (b) barriers to examining, implementing and accessing secondary prevention programmes; (c) methodological limitations; (d) the ethical justification; and (e) economic benefits for preventing abuse before it occurs. Over the last two decades, sources report greater public tolerance to the notion of tackling CSA using public health prevention approaches. Thus, we call for policy makers to embrace this positive shift and invest resources to further examine this area. Practice impact statement Advancing clinicians’ and therapists’ practice is critical for those working with people at risk of harm. This review aims to strengthen current knowledge and inform practice. Further, policy makers and funders are essential to the development and progression of prevention strategies; by providing this contemporary review, we hope to assist the decision-making process for allocating resources and strengthening confidence in advancing policy that builds comprehensive prevention approaches.