Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness in Schools
Each year, Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week provides a crucial reminder for professionals to reflect on and evaluate their practice.
Whilst our safeguarding duty applies all year round, this focussed week provides an opportunity for all education settings, from early years through to further education settings, to audit their policy and practice to consider two questions:
'Is our current provision effective?'
'Can we do more to address one of the most harmful and hidden forms of abuse affecting children and young people?'
Statistics from Rape Crisis reveal that more than 1 in 4 women and 1 in 18 men in the UK have been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16, highlighting the widespread nature of sexual violence. Research from NSPCC also shows that around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused, underlining the hidden but significant prevalence of abuse affecting young people.
Sexual abuse and violence can happen in classrooms, corridors, online spaces and relationships, often silently. In terms of our duty of care, vigilance is essential together with enabling pupils to have the confidence, opportunity and support they need to stay safe and speak out.
Under Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) schools are required to have robust systems for:
- Identifying abuse
- Teaching pupils about safeguarding risks
- Responding to disclosures
- Creating a culture where children feel safe to speak
Sexual abuse and sexual violence sit at the very heart of those duties. They also link directly to:
- RSHE statutory guidance
- Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) strategy
- Online Safety requirements
- Child-on-child abuse guidance
Awareness weeks are not a token gesture; they are essential reminders of safeguarding risks and prompt us not to miss vital opportunities for early help, prevention and disclosure.
In schools, particularly secondary schools, sexual harm may often be present in subtle ways before it is recognised as serious abuse, such as pressure to send images, sexualised name-calling or harassment in corridors. This abuse also includes unwanted touching, sharing or threatening to share intimate images, coercive or controlling behaviour, rape and sexual assault. Worryingly, young people may not recognise such experiences as abuse or they may feel uncomfortable, ashamed or frightened to seek support.
In reality, young people’s learning about sex and relationships is additionally influenced by exposure to content through social media, influencers, group chats, peer culture and pornography. Without clear, honest, adult-led conversations, myths thrive. This exposure enables parameters of consent to become blurred and harmful behaviours to be normalised. As a result, victims often stay silent.
As schools are one of the few places where accurate, safeguarding-led education, can interrupt that cycle it is worth auditing the provision of age-appropriate, trauma-informed resources in place such as:
Whole-School Assembly
Theme: Consent, Respect and Speaking Out
Key topics include:
- What consent really means
- That sexual harm can happen to anyone
- That it is never the victim’s fault
- How to get help/support in school
Provision of anonymous question boxes will allow students to ask things they are afraid to say aloud.
Pastoral / Tutor Time Discussion
Theme: What does a healthy relationship look like?
Prompt questions:
- How should someone treat you if they care about you?
- What does pressure/coercion look like?
- What should you do if something doesn’t feel right?
This supports RSHE learning outcomes and may assist staff to spot key areas for further focussed learning and/or emerging concerns.
PSHE / RSHE Lesson
Theme: Understanding Consent
Activities:
- Scenario cards showing different situations (e.g. pressured sexting, party behaviour, online relationships) where pupils decide: Is this respectful? Is it consent? If not, why?
This builds critical thinking, not just rule-following.
Online Safety Focus
Theme: When private becomes public
Cover:
- Image-based abuse
- Sextortion
- Sharing without consent
- The law
This links directly to statutory requirements within KCSIE online safety and child-on-child abuse duties.
Staff Safeguarding Briefing
Ensure all staff know:
- Indicators of sexual harm
- How to respond to disclosures appropriately
- How to record concerns promptly
A confident staff team is critical, particularly during awareness weeks when rates of disclosures often rise.
Safe Spaces
Provide:
- Drop-in sessions with pastoral staff
- Clear signposting to school counsellors
- Information on external help and support services, national and local
Teaching pupils about consent, boundaries and abuse is an important method of reducing the power and influence of perpetrators. It is not about creating a culture of fear; it is about promoting safety, dignity and prevention. Implemented effectively, schools do more than meet guidance requirements; they safeguard children’s future wellbeing.
SSS Learning
2 February 2026