Sociological and Criminological Analysis of Child Sexual Violence

This report provides a comprehensive overview of child sexual violence, examining both sociological and criminological explanations for its occurrence. The report begins by contextualizing the issue, highlighting the negative impacts on victims and society, and referencing relevant UK legislation, such as the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Lanzarote Convention. It then outlines the purpose, aim, objectives, and research questions guiding the study, followed by a review of existing literature on the topic. The report explores the concept of sexual violence, actions defined as abuse under UK law, educational practices for prevention in schools and government, factors that provoke offenders, and strategies for reduction. Research findings emphasize the severity of child sexual violence, the role of legislation and school authorities, and the importance of addressing underlying factors like mental health and lack of education. The report concludes by underscoring the need for strict laws, public awareness campaigns, and mandatory reporting to protect children and prevent future incidents.

What are some of the sociological and
criminological explanations for sexual
violence against children

Table of Contents
Overview..........................................................................................................................................3
Background of research...................................................................................................................3
Purpose.............................................................................................................................................4
Research Aim...................................................................................................................................4
Objective .........................................................................................................................................4
Research Questions..........................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................5
Research Findings............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
.........................................................................................................................................................9

Chapter 1: Contextualising the Issue of Sexual Violence Against Children
Overview
Abuse refers to any action which is done by any individual to hurt or injures other person.
It is one of the aspects from which whole world is suffering from as it creates depression,
anxiety, suicidal thoughts, post traumatic stress disorder etc in the mind of individual. There are
different types of abuse like physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal and spiritual abuse but the
only lethal abuse is sexual abuse. It is a kind of issues that no one wants to talk or hear it. It
means that sexual act done by the individual on children without getting their consent. Includes
forced intercourse, rape, touching private parts to make them feel uncomfortable etc. Minimum
age of involving in any sexual activities is 16 but it should not be done through any crook or
forcefully as then it will count as an offence. There are four factors which comes under Under
the law set by UK government, child sexual abuse or child molestation is an umbrella term
which includes all the factors which causes this type of abuse.
Background of research
From the past many years, children have been facing sexual violence against them due to
which it is creating a negative impact on the society and on children well being. For instance, it
destroys relationship with their parents as ability of making trust on anyone is destroy or it
creates a bad impact on the mind of children due to which they can not live their life to its fullest.
To stop this, UK government has sexual offences act 2003 which states that, any individual can
not penetrate vagina or anus with other person penis as then they would face penalty of life
imprisonment if found guilty. UK government has been doing their part to protect interest for
children as recently they have signed a treaty called Lanzarote Convention which states that
country is legally bind to take different types of actions which would assist them to reduce any
kind of fatal actions. According to National society for the prevent of cruelty to children, 1 out of
20 children is UK have faced sexual abuse in their life. Besides this 1 out of 3 children who
faced abused does not tell to anyone. ( The UK Has Finally Signed A Convention To Protect
Children From Sexual Violence, 2018) In 2016-17, police of UK has reported more than 60,000
cases of sexual offense against children. Apart from this, research conducted by Radford. L finds
that more than 90% of sexually abused cases are done by someone they knew or their known
from various means (Sexual abuse Facts and statistics, 2019). So it can inferred that UK is been

suffering from this cruelty offense which should be stop immediately to save the future of the
country.
Purpose
Main reason behind choosing this topic is that country is suffering from something fatal
which could create a negative impact on the economy of UK as children are the one who will
contribute their part in the future so to make the economy stronger. Apart from that, this study
will shown that how country and their government can play their part in protecting children and
vulnerable people, support given by them to victims and their families so to make their life
easier, how they can prevent sexual violence and at last how will they tackle the offenders so to
crimes rate would decrease to a certain level.
Research Aim
Study of “Sociological and criminological explanations for sexual violence against
children”. A case study of UK
Objective
 To determine the concept of sexual violence on children
 To examine the various actions that comes under sexual violence on children according
to UK law
 To determine different practices which government and schools can conduct to educate
children and their parents regarding sexual violence against children
 To identify factors which provokes individual to conduct sexual violence against children
 To assess different types of strategies that government can implement to reduce or
demolished child molestation
Research Questions
 What is the concept of sexual violence on children
 What are the various actions that comes under sexual violence on children according to
UK law.
 Different practices which government and schools can conduct to educate children and
their parents regarding sexual violence against children

 What are the various factors which provokes individual to conduct sexual violence
against children
 Different types of strategies that government can implement to reduce or demolished
child molestation
Literature Review
Literature review is an approach while conducting research on a specific topic so to
support the objectives and thesis made in the starting. It review all the articles, magazines,
journals and various other sources which is related to the research topic. Main aim of this
comprehensive study is to describe and summarize the previous research which has been done by
various scholars around to world and convey all the ideas and knowledge to the reader. There are
different purposes of literature review which is discussed below,
 To explain the problem and findings which has been faced by past scholars.
 To create relationship between existing and new research.
 To resolve conflicts between various and distinct contradictory studies.
Objectives which is been taken in the starting to conduct research is given below,
 To identify the concept of sexual violence
According to Hall and Hall (2011), sexual violence is act attempted by individual to
obtain sex or unwanted favours from opposite or same gender. The main reason behind action
done by individual is to get the sexual favours from other person whom individual is attracted or
to satisfy their hunger for sex. In recent time, UK has been suffering from this cruelty as cases of
child molestation or sexual violence against children is increasing day by day. Childhood sexual
abuse creates a negative impact in the mind of children for longer period of time. For instance,
according to research done by them it has been found out that, depression is the most common
disease which is found in the abuse survivors. They start thinking negative about themselves and
ideas of committing suicide is common. Apart from that, they blame themselves and their parents
for all the misshapen which has been experienced by them which makes them nervous and full of
anxiety in every situation they faced in their future. So it can be concluded that child abuse or
sexual violence on children makes their life darker and full of sadness.
 What are the various actions that comes under sexual violence on children according to
UK law.

There are two types of abuse which comes under child sexual abuse i.e., contact abuse and non-
contact abuse. Contact abuse is related to activities in which individual makes physical contact
with the children so to satisfy their need. It includes touching private body parts of children,
make intercourse through forcefully, provoking children to do any sexual activity and to make
children to open their clothes. Non contact abuse refers to provoke children to do any acts which
will arouse offenders feeling without touching them personally. It includes promote sexual act in
front of children, abuses them, sharing any prohibited content or video to them etc. There are
different kind of acts which should be taken care by parents and children so to identify the
offender before any dangerous happen with them.
 Different practices which government and schools can conduct to educate children and
their parents regarding sexual violence against children
It is very important that governments and schools to provide a certain level of education to
children to protect them against sexual violence. As children might be subjected to such physical
and sexual violence inside of the school premises, it is imperative that government as well as
school authorities intervene to help prevent these malpractices completely. According to Smith,
K.C., 2019, school authorities must be aware of the laws like Human Rights Act, 1998 and
Equality Act, 2010. The practices that school authorities and government should adopt includes
safeguarding children by effectively helping children of their school and understanding their
exposure to possible situation and presenting solution regarding these issues. These solutions
cover transparent interaction between the teachers and students regarding educating them about
sexual violence and steps and measures to be taken at the time of an uncertain. They must ensure
discrimination-free environment and proper installation of cameras to track the safety of each
child. Moreover, if a child faces sexual violence, the authorities must support the family as well
as the child in question by ensuring unbiased and supporting behaviour towards the pupil.
Schools could also keep a background check on their staff members to ensure that no employee
who has a history of sexual violence against children enters the premises as it could risk the
safety of the children. Moreover, regular monitoring must be ensured by the authorities to
prevent such practices within their school premises.
 What are the various factors which provokes individual to conduct sexual violence
against children

However, each action and behaviour has a strong reason behind it. There are various factors that
provokes an individual to conduct a sin as grave as sexual violence against children. One of the
major factors is biological and social processes. This means that individuals committing these
crimes might not by psychologically sane. Or even these individuals might need psychiatric help.
Another factor that instigates such behaviour is lack of proper sex education given to individuals.
These individuals have never been communicated regarding their sexual needs and thus, they end
up hurting children to satisfy their urge. Another major factor is alcohol. It is highly likely that
alcohol causes aggressive behaviour in individuals that end up committing such heinous crimes.
These many reasons are responsible for provoking individuals of attempting sexual violence
against children and such individuals must be identified and treated well to effectively mitigate
these crimes.
 Different types of strategies that government can implement to reduce or demolished
child molestation
Governments could help in demolishing of child abuse by developing strict laws and more rigid
legal structures that provide severe punishments to child abusers. Public information campaigns
must be implemented in order to ensure better decision-making by individuals to prevent child
abuse. Moreover, reporting of sexual abuse of children must be mandatory in order to effectively
ensure justice to the victim and their families. In addition to this, government must take rigid
steps regarding practices like child pornography and other digital practices to prevent such
malpractices and aware people about the ethical issues that must be adopted by each individual
to ensure child safety.
Research Findings
Sexual violence against children is a very serious crime and must be prevented under all
circumstances to ensure benefits of children as well as the society. Such violence have a very
deep impact on the minds of children and there are very grieve circumstances that are faced by
children. In addition to this, the physical and mental health and well-being of children is very
much affected by these crimes. There are various actions in the UK law that are taken against
child abuse like Sexual act, 2003 which determine the consequences for criminals if found guilty
under this act. School authorities too have a prominent role in educating children regarding
sexual violence as well as taking mandatory steps if they experience happening of any such
crime in their premises. The various factors that provoke individuals include alcohol, mental

disorders as well as lack of education. Government has a prominent role in developing strategies
that are quite effective when it comes to reduction as well as mitigation of crimes like sexual
violence against children.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Hall, M. and Hall, J., 2011. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.counseling.org/docs/disaster-and-trauma_sexual-abuse/long-term-effects-
of-childhood-sexual-abuse.pdf>.
Sexual abuse Facts and statistics. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect/child-sexual-
abuse/sexual-abuse-facts-statistics//>.
The UK Has Finally Signed A Convention To Protect Children From Sexual Violence. 2018.
[Online]. Available Through: <https://rightsinfo.org/uk-ratification-lanzarote-
convention-ending-sexual-abuse-children/>.