Real solutions to child abuse

Last week the Home Secretary, Theresa May, spoke of her dismay over the number of child abusers who have been able to operate in the past, as well as today.

We've done quite a bit of work over recent years on the context within which child abuse flourishes. Here's a quick rundown of the main bits.

• Earlier this week our research associate Helen Mills has written a piece on our site about a US project called generationFIVE, which is campaigning to end child abuse in five generations.
• Back in April our research director Roger Grimshaw wrote this piece on the need for comprehensive solutions to protect children in institutional care settings.
• Last year our director Richard Garside explained why warning members of the public about suspected child abusers in their area - the so-called 'Sarah's law' - is not the answer.
• In 2011 we published My Story, a report based on in-depth interviews with young adults who had been convicted of serious violence offences. One of the young adults (Story Two) spoke about his traumatic experiences of childhood sexual abuse. The full report is free to download. Roger Grimshaw, who interviewed the young people, has written about the research and its implications here.
• In 2012 we published A life sentence really?, a report drawing on interviews Helen Mills conducted with convicted sex offenders. The full report is free to download. Helen has written about her research here.

We are planning to do more work in 2015 on tackling past abuses and preventing future ones. If you can help us develop our thinking get in touch at justicematters@crimeandjustice.org.uk.