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Disclosure of childhood sexual abuse remains deeply complex. Despite positive developments within criminal justice systems, child protection services and therapeutic provision too often place the burden of “coming forward” on the individual, overlooking the profound structural and societal barriers that make disclosure so difficult.
Understanding Child Sexual Abuse Disclosure challenges this norm. Drawing on a comprehensive review of the evidence base, it maps the full landscape of disclosure – its challenges, opportunities and theoretical underpinnings – before proposing an innovative social model response. Rather than asking why individuals do not disclose, it asks what society must do to make disclosure possible.
Accessible yet academically rigorous, this indispensable resource demonstrates how we must urgently shift attention away from individuals being expected to “come forward” and towards collective responsibility.
"Essential reading for practitioners and policy makers, a compelling social model for understanding and facilitating disclosure." - Deirdre Kenny, CEO, One in Four Ireland
"This work reimagines sexual abuse disclosure, shifting focus from individual bravery to societal responsibility, and illuminating how we can enable survivors’ voices to be heard." Delphine Collin-Vézina, McGill University
1. Introduction
2. Child Sexual Abuse - Our Fragile Knowledge
3. Disclosure of Abuse
4. Threshold Concepts of Disclosure
5. Societal Responses to Disclosure
6. An Introduction to the Social Model
7. A Social Model of Disclosure
8. Conclusions