User-centred responses to child sexual abuse: the way forward?

Two parallel surveys were carried out based in the north-east of England and Cumbria: one ascertaining statutory social work services provided for child and adult survivors of sexual abuse, the other drawing upon the perceptions of adult survivors of child sexual abuse about existing and desirable forms of provision for adults and children. The surveys indicate the need for greater genuine partnership between service users and statutory agencies in the field of child sexual abuse, similar to that which is being pioneered in the field of adult care and disability. A community-orientated response to sexual abuse, centred on service-users, is required if one of the largest social problems facing us today is to be effectively challenged.