Women who sexually abuse children

Women who sexually abuse children: challenging perceptions and awareness training

Our one-day course draws on lessons learnt from research and practice to increase knowledge about female sexual abuse and to develop skills for engaging with these women in  a gender responsive way.  It will be of interest to practitioners from health and social care, education and criminal justice.

This training course will be suitable for practitioners needing to develop their understanding of the wider implications of female sexual abuse.  It will also assist professionals to approach situations where female sexual abuse may have occurred with increased confidence and knowledge.

Course aims
Drawing on research and our experience within the child protection and criminal justice systems, the course begins by looking at the difficulties encountered in identification of female sexual abuse.  We consider:

• Challenges female abusers present to commonly held preceptions of female behaviour
• Implications for victims of our inability to 'hear' their disclosures

This is followed by exploration of messages from research and practice regarding:

• Prevalence of female sexual abuse of children
• Similarities and differences identified between male and female sexual abusers
• Impact issues for victims of female abusers
• Characteristics of female abusers
• Common typologies and abuse patterns
• Skills which may assist in engaging the women in assessment or intervention interviews

Delivery will include information, anonymised case examples, discussion and group exercises.

Course trainer:     Sherry Ashfield 
Course dates:    18 Mar 2010 (Darlington), 26 May 2010 (Surrey),
                         15 July 2010 (Bristol), 15 Sept 2010 (Birmingham)
Course Cost:       £155 including VAT & lunch

Download a brochure here and for more details or to reserve your place call Nicola Wathen on 01527 591922.