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    Upstream

    Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Scotland

    Upstream is an online resource that enables adults in Scotland to prevent child sexual abuse and to protect the next child.  

    It has been developed by Stop It Now! Scotland with support from the Scottish Government.

     
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    Who is Upstream for?

    Upstream is for Everyone.

    You may be a professional looking for advice; a member of the public who is uneasy about how an adult behaves around children;  someone that works directly with children or a parent that wants to protect your children online.

    Upstream is for you. It will give you the tools and support and enable you to prevent Child Sexual Abuse in Scotland.

    You can Learn about and Identify the different forms of abuse,  as well as how to Prevent and Act upon any concerns regarding Child Sexual Abuse

     

     
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    Learn

    Learn about different forms of abuse

    Find out what Child Sexual Abuse is.

    What is Child Sexual Exploitation?

    Do you know what Grooming and Harmful Sexual Behaviour are?

     

     
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    Identify

    How to Identify the signs of Child Sexual Abuse

    "It could be nothing, it could be something"

    It is not up to children to prevent abuse - it is up to us adults to protect the next child.

    We need to be able to identify the emotional and physical signs of child sexual abuse.

     
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    Prevent

    Practical things to prevent abuse from happening

    How do we prevent Child Sexual Abuse before it happens?

    How to speak to other adults about prevention.

    What are the practical steps we can all take to protect children from harm?

     

     
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    Act

    The importance of acting on any concerns

    Do I have concerns?

    What happens if I report my concerns? 

    What happens if a child tells me they are being abused or exploited?

    If you are worried about a child or an adult's behaviour, it is important to do something about it.

    If we don’t speak up, we may be putting our adult relationships before the safety of a vulnerable child.

     
    Act
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    Engaging Scotland

    Child Abuse Prevention across Scotland's Communities

    Professionals and volunteers involved with the safeguarding of children need to know how to prevent child sexual abuse in different settings.

    This section provides ideas and practical tools on how to achieve this.

     

Learn

We want to protect Scotland's next child from abuse. To do this adults need to understand what child sexual abuse and exploitation is. They also need to know the signs and indicators of abuse and be able to act if they have concerns.

Identify

As adults it is up to us to protect children from sexual abuse. Know the emotional and physical signs of child sexual abuse. In order to prevent child sexual abuse we need to be able to recognise concerning behaviour and be able to identify the signs of possible sexual abuse.

Prevent

Child Sexual Abuse - Prevention is always better than a cure. In order to prevent sexual abuse of children - we believe we need to go “upstream” to give people the right tools to use to prevent abuse from happening. We want to help you to protect the next child.

Act

Act on your Concerns If you are worried about a child or an adult's behaviour - it is important to do something about it. If we don’t speak up, are we putting our adult relationships before the safety of a vulnerable child?

Engaging Communities

In communities across Scotland - It is critical that we work as "Protecting Adults" when interacting with children and young people. By "Protecting Adults" we mean YOU - whether you regard yourself as a Professional, someone who volunteers at a community centre, sports clubs etc. Find out more here

Did you know?

1 in 6 children in the UK experience sexual abuse before the age of 16

Source - NSPCC
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