Reframing the political narrative on child sexual abuse for CSA Centre/Lucy Faithfull Foundation/Marie Collins Foundation

The sheer scale of child sexual abuse is chilling and frequently under-appreciated: one in ten children in the UK experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 16, and it happens in families across all communities. Yet most cases go unreported, and it is not talked about enough.

Few issues are worthier of focused attention and serious contemplation from Parliamentarians. Yet political engagement in this issue – where it happens at all – is often superficial at best; actively unhelpful at worst. It’s an issue that can make people uncomfortable, causing some Parliamentarians to be reluctant to engage at all.

Three charities who specialise in tackling child sexual abuse – the Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation and the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) – appointed Claremont, and our partners Fourteen Forty, to help them reframe the political narrative and encourage deeper engagement in policy solutions in this field.

We interviewed stakeholders and conducted desk research to understand the status quo and the range of views on the attitudinal and behavioural change that is needed. We workshopped together to crystallise the charities’ shared narrative into a succinct message framework, with clear asks focused on how child sexual abuse can be better prevented. And we developed a communications strategy to support the charities to begin to shift the dial and engage with the new intake of MPs, as well as members of the House of Lords.

We produced a report, Closer to Home, to present the high-level case for change to Parliamentarians, and we are developing additional briefing materials to equip the charities with a toolkit they can use to open doors and engage in higher quality, productive conversations with law-makers and their advisors.