Child sexual abuse in contemporary culture: developing cultural approaches

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a major public health issue affecting up to one in five people worldwide. It is well-researched from psychology, social science and medical perspectives, but it is seriously under-explored by scholars who study cultural works. A cultural approach to CSA is vital because cultural works, such as novels films and TV series, collectively provide a key lens through which issues are viewed. 

We will lay the foundations for exploring how child sexual abuse (CSA) is represented in popular culture by developing a research plan and a network of collaborating scholars. This project aims to connect cultural, social science and medical scholars, CSA survivors and healthcare practitioners through an integrated programme of collaborative activities to build capacity for researching how cultural works represent CSA and investigating their potential social influence.

This examination of cultural works can inform our social understanding of CSA, which can in turn affect survivors’ health outcomes.