Respecting Sexual Safety: A Program to Prevent Sexual Exploitation and Harmful Sexual Behaviour in Out-of-Home Care

Abstract

For children and young people living in residential care, recent Victorian and national inquiries have found that harmful sexual behaviour carried out by children and young people, and child sexual exploitation perpetrated by adults, are significant problems. Efforts to address harmful sexual behaviour and child sexual exploitation in Victoria include the establishment of sexually abusive behaviour treatment services and the Sexual Exploitation Protocol. Applying the public health model of prevention, these programs of work are tertiary prevention interventions that respond after the abuse has occurred. A gap exists in secondary prevention efforts for children and young people living in resi..