Keeping children safe

Sexuality and relationships education includes teaching children about self protection skills. It involves learning about:

• self esteem and assertiveness
• communicating
• body ownership
• different types of feelings
• different types of relationships
• types of touch and rules about touch
• identifying public and private body parts, behaviours and places
• safety networks and knowing how to get help

Sexuality and relationships education helps children to develop the knowledge and skills to be able to ask for help clearly and accurately from trusted adults. Short, regular talks about self protection help children to learn more effectively and are better than just a one off talk.

Programs that involve children receiving comprehensive and positive messages about communicating about sexuality and self protection play a vital preventative role in the protection of children from sexual assault. Programs should be reinforced within the community, by parents/carers at home and by teachers in the school environment (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1995; Smallbone & Wortley, 2000, Sanderson, 2004). Research also suggests that perpetrators of sexual abuse are less likely to choose victims who demonstrate knowledge of self protection skills for fear of disclosure (Sanderson, 2004).

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