The document summarizes a study that examined informal and formal support structures for young people who experienced child abuse. 53 young women and 7 young men between ages 18-24 who reported extensive victimization were interviewed. On average, it took 7.8 years to disclose experiences of child sexual abuse. Most initial disclosures were to informal sources like family and friends. Barriers to disclosure included lack of knowledge that the abuse was wrong and lack of trusted adults. Missed opportunities for intervention were identified at the individual, family, community, and system levels. Key recommendations included providing youth appropriate information about relationships early on, communicating with youth directly and sensitively, and ensuring professionals notice signs of struggle and ask youth directly about their experiences.

1. 1
No One Noticed, No
One Heard
Debbie Allnock, University of Bedfordshire
Pam Miller, NSPCC

2. The study asked "who do you turn to?" but note the
shift in focus of the title!
Key areas of exploration were:
• The informal support structures (family, friends)
• Child protection/safeguarding services (police, social
work)
• Other formal support structures (teachers, etc)
Our understanding of disclosure went beyond a ‘one
off telling’ definition. Using Alaggia (2004) typology
accidental, purposeful, prompted/elicited, behavioural
and indirect verbal attempts
Key Aims/Definitions

3. • Key point: Very specific sample; high levels of
victimisation
• Child maltreatment participants and self-selecting
participants
• Self-completed NSPCC survey on child maltreatment
• In-depth follow-up interviews
• 53 young women, 7 young men
• 18 - 24 years old
• 92% White
• 43% with a disability
• 82% considered polyvictims (self-reported 15 or
more experiences of victimisation)
• 95% sexual abuse in quantitative data, 73% in
qualitative data
Methodology

4. Did young people disclose?
7.80 average years to disclose

5. Time taken to disclose – for those who experienced CSA, it was 7.80 years on
average (from 1 week to 18 years); unable to accurately calculate the other
participants
CSA – the young people attempted an average of 4 disclosures under 18; 16
young people attempted to disclose about physical abuse or bullying
Other abuse – Of those who disclosed, they made on average 2.5 disclosures
CSA - Three-quarters of ‘initial’ disclosures were made to informal sources
(e.g. mothers, friends, etc...). Disclosures to formal sources (e.g. police or
education professionals) were more likely as ‘linked’ disclosures
Other abuse – a majority of the disclosures were made to informal sources
such as family and friends; few were made to formal sources, suggesting this
type of abuse may have been considered to be ‘normal’ by both young person
and source
General characteristics of the disclosures

6. Mode of disclosure – most common was direct and purposeful; with a number
of ‘indirect verbal’ disclosures; Partial, behavioural (signs/symptoms),
accidental, prompted, retracted and assisted were reported also
Cause being five you don’t, you don’t know these things do you? You don’t
know what’s happening to you and erm it finally clicked and I was like,
‘Actually I would rather go and stay with the other grandparents, I’d rather
stay with my dad’s parents this weekend rather than my mother’s parents so,
and erm... When it eventually clicked that something wasn't right, I'd say 'Oh
grandpa's snores all the time he keeps me awake at night'. Just to try and
push him out more than anything. It wasn't a particularly nice time for me and
I often begged my granny, saying 'No, no I don't want him in the room' sort of
thing and he would then have to sleep on the sofa.
[Female, sexually abused by step-grandfather, from age 5 to 11]
• Purpose of disclosures - To stop abuse (most common); Seeking emotional
support (second most common); Uncertain; To protect others; To seek
justice; In response to a prompt; To inform; To test the waters; Unplanned,
unknown
General characteristics of disclosures

7. What stops young people from disclosing abuse?

8. What helps young people disclose abuse?

9. Why doesn’t abuse stop sooner?

10. Missed Opportunities
• Young people’s views
• Identification of where intervention
could have occurred earlier
• Ecological framework
• Individual child
• Families
• Community, neighbours and friends
• Social services
• Education
• Police and criminal justice

11. Children and Young People
• Lack of cognitive and/or verbal ability to
communicate abuse
• Lack of reference points to indicate that abuse is
wrong
• Lack of knowledge of individual rights to
protection and safety
• Lack of knowledge of services or people that
they can turn to
• Suspicion that what is happening is not right,
but lacks confidence to investigate

12. Families
• Child lacked a trusted/safe adult within
the family
• Other family members did not act on
suspicions
• Other family members were reluctant to
intervene in family dynamics
• Family members wished to protect the
perpetrator

13. Community, Neighbours and Friends
• Neighbours did not act on suspicions
• Neighbours reluctant to intervene in
family dynamics
• Community members minimised
abuse experiences
• Friends share same developmental
challenges as children/young people

14. Social Services
• Too focussed on other abuse/issues
in the home to ask or investigate
other problems
• Misinterpreting signs (e.g. believing
that young people are merely
‘troubled’)
• Inadequate investigations
• Did not ask directly

15. Education
• Missing signs (e.g. bruises, self-
harm)
• Misinterpreting signs (e.g. believing
that young people are merely
‘troubled’)
• Did not ask directly
• Crucial information not provided in
sex education classes

16. Police and Criminal Justice
• Too focussed on other
abuse/issues in the home to ask
or investigate other problems
• Reluctance to intervene in peer
violence

17. The Disclosure Journey
• Broadly positive journeys (10%)
• Mixed experiences (50%)
• Broadly negative journeys (40%)

18. Three key threads throughout the report:
1. Information - Young people want and need to be informed about healthy
relationships at a young age. This will help them contextualise their
experiences and help them to develop healthy relationships.
2. Communication – Young people wanted to be communicated with in age/
developmentally appropriate ways. They wanted to be spoken to directly,
but sensitively. Professionals should think about ‘how’ and ‘where’ they
communicate with children and young people, but also ‘with whom’.
3. Being noticed, asked and heard – the young people wanted to be noticed
when they were struggling. Professionals should not focus only on one key
issue, but be cognizant of other issues the child may be experiencing.
Key messages