Senior Lecturer in Child Protection, Vanisha Jassal, has contributed a chapter ‘Preserving what for whom?’ Female victim/survivor perspectives on the silence behind child sexual abuse in Britain’s South Asian communities’ to a seminal book on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA).
The 2022 book, Child Sexual Abuse in Black and Minoritised Communities: Improving Legal, Policy and Practical Responses, brings together multidisciplinary expertise from key researchers and practitioners around the world to better understand CSA in Black and racially minoritised communities and to provide recommendations for improving legal, policy and practical responses.
Vanisha’s chapter examines child sexual abuse of Britain’s female South Asian victims and survivors. Through a narrative research design, 15 females (now adults) share their stories and provide rarely heard insights into lived experiences and barriers to disclosures and reporting which can often be weighted by cultural norms. Important lessons and learning for child protection practice and policy are also provided.
Figures on child sexual abuse remain concerning, with the 2022 final report of the Independent Inquiry into CSA stating that one in six girls and one in 20 boys experience sexual abuse by the age of 16. Similar figures are reported globally. The chapter and the book overall, adopts an intersectional lens to deepen our understanding of child sexual abuse, and particularly lived experiences. The book is relevant for students, academics, policy-makers and professionals including social workers, service staff and activists working at the frontline.
Vanisha Jassal is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Studies for the MA in Advanced Child Protection/MA Social Work, at the Centre for Child Protection.