Register today to discuss whether child education is effective in preventing CSA with Dr Julia Rudolph, Research and Evaluation Officer in Australia.
14 Nov 2024: 5-6pm HKT
Who should attend: Parents, Schools, Safeguarding Trainers, Professors
Child sexual abuse (CSA) continues to be a problem for children worldwide, with a myriad of adverse personal, familial and societal consequences. To date, primary prevention has focused almost exclusively on child education, teaching children how to recognise, resist and report sexual advances and victimisation via school-based programs. Despite widespread support, child education lacks a sound theoretical base and questions remain about its effectiveness and appropriateness. Parental involvement in prevention has been limited, with the parental role restricted to that of educator. However, research suggests that parents, even those knowledgeable about the risks, avoid teaching their children about the specifics of sexual abuse, preferring to discuss strangers and abduction dangers. In this presentation Julia will discuss the problems of child-targeted CSA prevention and present new opportunities for prevention; with the involvement of parents as protectors, rather than educators.
Dr Julia Rudolph is a Research and Evaluation Officer. She recently returned from the UK where she spent two years working with the Office for National Statistics on the developed of a child abuse prevalence survey. Julia is an expert in CSA prevention and has been instrumental in reconceptualising sexual abuse prevention. She has developed a new model for the involvement of parents in prevention; via the creation of safe environments and positive parenting. Julia has also researched adolescent symptomology (rejection-sensitivity, body dysmorphic symptoms, appearance preoccupation, depression, anxiety), adolescent peer bullying, and associations between parenting and child/adolescent symptomology. Julia has worked with children and families in statutory child protection agencies both in Australia and the UK.