Editorial standards

Forensic Sexology deals with sensitive subjects that require accuracy, proportion and care. Published resources will follow the principles below.

Evidence and transparency

• Authors, publication dates and relevant professional affiliations will be clearly identified.
• Sources will be cited and links provided wherever practicable.
• Evidence, interpretation, professional opinion and uncertainty will be distinguished.
• Limitations, contested terminology, conflicts of interest and the applicability of findings will be acknowledged.
• Assessment tools and treatment claims will be discussed with attention to validity, cultural transferability and appropriate use.
• Material will be reviewed and corrected when substantive errors are identified.

Clinical and diagnostic boundaries

• Sexual interest, fantasy, sexual behaviour, distress, disorder, offending and risk will not be treated as interchangeable.
• Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder, paraphilic interests and paraphilic disorders will not be presented as automatic indicators of sexual offending.
• Adult forensic practice will be clearly separated from developmentally informed work with children and adolescents.
• Content will not diagnose individuals or imply certainty beyond the available evidence.

Human rights, safety and responsible language

• Language will be clinically precise, person-first, non-sensational and free from unnecessary graphic detail.
• Human rights, dignity, consent, capacity, sexual health, disability, neurodiversity and cultural difference will be respected.
• The experiences and safety of victims, survivors, partners, children, affected families, clients and communities will be considered without transferring responsibility for harm.
• Content about child sexual abuse material, sexual extortion, deepfakes, generative AI and other digital harms will avoid operational detail that could facilitate abuse.
• Lived-experience and survivor involvement must be voluntary, safely designed, properly consented and ethically governed.

Professional responsibility

• Resources will recognise the importance of practitioner competence, supervision, reflective practice and multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Practitioner wellbeing, vicarious trauma and burnout will be treated as safety and workforce issues, not as personal failings.
• Safeguarding, confidentiality, information sharing, consent and legal duties will be presented as context-dependent professional responsibilities.
• Educational material will not provide individualised diagnostic, risk, treatment, legal or safeguarding advice.

Important disclaimer

The site provides educational information and professional commentary. It does not provide individual clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, legal advice, risk assessment or emergency safeguarding guidance. Professionals remain responsible for working within their competence, organisational procedures, supervision arrangements, applicable law and professional standards.

If there is an immediate risk of harm, contact the emergency services or the appropriate statutory safeguarding service.