Forensic sexology guide
Victims, Partners, Families and Whole-System Safeguarding
Sexual offending, an allegation or a safeguarding concern rarely affects only one person. Victims and survivors, partners, children, relatives and professionals may each face different risks, rights, loyalties and practical pressures. A safe response recognises those differences instead of treating “the family” as one unit.
Support must not collapse different people’s needs into one
A partner may be frightened, loyal, angry and financially dependent at the same time. A child may need safety and age-appropriate information. A victim or survivor may want distance, advocacy or control over what happens next. These positions can coexist; they should not be forced into a single therapeutic goal.
Why a whole-system view matters
A whole-system approach maps the people, relationships, risks, protective factors and services around a concern. It asks who has been harmed, who may remain at risk, who holds responsibility, what support each person needs and which agency is leading each decision. It does not assume that everyone wants contact, reconciliation or the same outcome.
The purpose is coordination without confusion. Clinical care, safeguarding, criminal justice, family support and expert assessment may all be relevant, but they serve different functions. The response should remain victim-centred, child-centred where children are involved, and clear about professional roles.
Victims and survivors remain central
Victims and survivors should be met with dignity, belief and choice. They may need time, privacy, practical help, specialist advocacy, medical care or legal information. Under the Victims’ Code in England and Wales, victims have rights including understandable information, referral to support, assessment of their needs and updates about the criminal justice process.
Therapeutic work should not pressure someone to confront, forgive, educate or reconcile with the person accused of or responsible for harm. Where the victim and the accused or convicted person are connected, their support should normally be provided separately. The victim’s disclosures and treatment should not become a route for gathering information for another person’s defence, assessment or therapy.
Partners and relatives may also need support
Partners and relatives can experience shock, grief, anger, divided loyalties, public scrutiny and uncertainty about what to believe. They may also face housing, parenting, employment, financial and digital-safety pressures. Support can help them think clearly, understand processes, make informed decisions and maintain appropriate boundaries.
Their needs matter, but they do not displace victim safety or reduce the responsibility of the person whose behaviour is under concern. Work with partners or relatives should not be used to recruit them as monitors, investigators or informal therapists. They need an independent space in which conflicting feelings can be acknowledged without requiring an immediate decision about the relationship.
Children need separate consideration
Children may be directly harmed, indirectly affected or living with uncertainty following an allegation, investigation or conviction. Their welfare cannot be inferred from the views of adults around them. They need age-appropriate, honest information; stable routines where possible; and freedom from blame, secrecy and pressure to carry messages between adults.
Contact and family arrangements should be considered through safeguarding processes and the individual child’s circumstances. Professionals should listen to the child, work with relevant agencies and follow the current Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance. A resource may discuss children’s needs even where an individual practitioner does not work clinically with children.
When a partner may also be at risk
Sexual offending concerns can coexist with coercive control, domestic abuse, stalking, threats or financial dependence. A partner should have opportunities to speak privately where this can be done safely. Their disclosures should not be shared with the alleged perpetrator simply because the adults are in a relationship or receiving related services.
Where domestic abuse may be present, safety planning and specialist support take priority over couple or family work. In an emergency, call 999. The government’s domestic abuse support page lists national and specialist services, including the National Domestic Abuse Helpline for England on 0808 2000 247.
Separate roles reduce conflicts
The same clinician should not normally provide therapy to a victim or survivor while also treating, assessing or preparing expert evidence about the accused or convicted person. Similar care is needed when working with different members of one family. Even where information can legally be shared, combined roles may undermine trust, create perceived alliances and blur the purpose of the work.
At the outset, professionals should explain their role, who the client is, how records will be used, what confidentiality covers and its limits, and what happens if safeguarding information emerges. If roles change, consent and boundaries should be revisited rather than assumed.
Information sharing: necessary, proportionate and explained
Consent should be sought where appropriate, but safeguarding duties may sometimes require information to be shared without it. Decisions should be lawful, necessary and proportionate. Share the minimum information needed with the right person, make sure it is relevant and accurate, use secure channels, and record what was shared and why.
Where it is safe to do so, explain the decision to the person concerned. The Department for Education’s information-sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance provide important frameworks for work involving children and adults respectively.
A practical whole-system safeguarding map
- Who may be affected directly or indirectly?
- What is an immediate risk, and what is a longer-term need?
- Which children or adults may have statutory safeguarding needs?
- Who needs independent advocacy or specialist support?
- Who is leading each clinical, safeguarding or legal decision?
- What information is necessary to share, with whom and why?
- Have contact, digital access, housing, finances and practical boundaries been considered?
- When and how will the plan be reviewed?
Support routes in England and Wales
- Immediate danger: call 999.
- NHS Sexual Assault Referral Centres: provide specialist medical, practical and forensic support, including where someone has not yet decided whether to report to the police. Find a SARC.
- Rape Crisis England & Wales: free 24/7 support for people aged 16 and over on 0808 500 2222, with online chat available through Rape Crisis.
- Stop It Now: confidential guidance for people concerned about their own or another person’s sexual thoughts or behaviour, and for affected relatives, on 0808 1000 900. See the Family and Friends Forum.
- Domestic abuse support: national and specialist services are listed on GOV.UK.
Develop specialist practice
Complex sexual offending work requires clear boundaries, sound safeguarding judgement and the ability to understand people within their relational, clinical and legal contexts.
Sources and further reading
- Victims’ Code for England and Wales
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026
- CSA Centre: Supporting Parents and Carers
- Information Sharing Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners
- Care and Support Statutory Guidance
- NHS England: Sexual Assault and Abuse Services
- Stop It Now: What About Us? workbook
Important: This resource provides general information for adults and professionals in England and Wales. It is not emergency, legal, clinical or individual safeguarding advice. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Practitioners should follow current law, professional standards, organisational policy and local safeguarding procedures.
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