Insights on young people engaging in harmful and problematic sexual behaviour

This briefing uses insight from Childline counselling sessions and NSPCC Helpline child welfare contacts to share information around young people engaging in harmful and problematic sexual behaviours.

It is typical for children to display some sexualised behaviours as they grow up. Typical sexual behaviours should not cause harm to anyone, physically or emotionally, and be developmentally appropriate. Sometimes a child might display sexualised behaviour that is problematic or harmful to themselves or to others.

Everyone who works or volunteers with children has a responsibility to keep them safe and this includes taking appropriate action to prevent and respond to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour displayed by a young person. In order to create effective prevention measures and interventions around this topic, it is crucial to understand the perspectives of young people engaging in these behaviours.

The briefing shares young people’s perspectives across the various stages of engaging in harmful and problematic sexual behaviours. Some young people:

• realised they had experienced abuse themselves
• asked sex and relationship questions which demonstrated knowledge gaps around age-appropriate behaviours, consent, and legality
• were having fantasies, thoughts and urges that they wanted to stop and did not want to act on
• felt guilt, regret and shame about past behaviours
• had sought help for their harmful sexual behaviours but had not received it.