Sexual abuse

Even if you think that you don’t have any evidence, it's still important that you tell somebody. If you can, save any texts, emails or messages from the person who is abusing you and the times it happened. But remember, if you don’t have evidence, you can still ask for help

Some people may find it upsetting to be told about something as serious as sexual abuse and may find it difficult to come to terms with what you are saying. They may not want to get involved or might suggest that you're overreacting or that you've got it wrong. All this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t tell people. If you speak to someone who doesn’t want to help you, don’t give up – tell somebody else. You have done the right thing in speaking up.

It’s normal to feel worried about:

• what people might think
• upsetting a parent or carer
• making the abuse worse for yourself or a brother or sister
• getting the person who’s abusing you into trouble
• breaking up the family

The most important thing is that you are safe and you feel like you can talk to somebody. You shouldn’t have to go through this on your own.

There are a few things to remember if you tell a professional. They have a duty to report it to a social worker:

• a social worker’s job is to talk with you and your family to see how to keep you safe is. If they can, they will always try and sort things out in the family before they think about moving anyone out of the house
• depending on the information they have and whether they know of your family already, a social worker may do a ‘safety check’ within 7 days. This usually means a social worker coming round to speak to you and your parent or carer
• if the abuse is happening at home, you can tell a teacher that you’re afraid and would prefer to speak to a social worker at school instead
• if you have any evidence then it’s a good idea to give them that too. If you do decide to tell someone you can still talk to us about what is happening for you.

If you think your friend might be being abused, talk to them about it. You can let them know that you are there for them to talk if they want to. Remember that they may not want to talk to you about it. They may be scared about what will happen if they tell someone.

If they do tell you about what’s happening to them, you could encourage them to tell a trusted adult about it. Let them know that you are there for them and they can talk to you. You and your friend can also talk to a counsellor at any time. It could help to sit with your friend and have a look at our website, so they can see what we do and how we can help.

It can be very difficult hearing that a friend has been abused, but we can support you through this. Contact a counsellor.