International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 2020, Advance online publication, 23 May 2020

Sexual abuse is a global issue and, therefore, responding to and preventing sexual abuse are global challenges. Although we have examples of and evidence for sexual abuse prevention initiatives internationally, these tend to come from a small, select group of countries (i.e., United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia) and not from a broader global pool. This article will present the qualitative data from an online study (n = 82), covering 17 countries, on professionals’ (i.e., people working in the arena of sexual offending from a clinical, criminal justice, policy, research, and/or practice perspective) perceptions sexual abuse prevention in theory, practice, and policy. The article identifies three main themes: (a) professionals’ understandings of the prevention of sexual abuse, (b) public understanding of sexual abuse prevention, and (c) governmental attitudes towards, and support of, sexual abuse prevention programs. The article highlights that, although there are similar understandings of sexual abuse prevention internationally, practice is characterised by national differences in the funding of, provision of, and public/policy perceptions of prevention as well as its impact on offending. (Authors' abstract).

The research is part of a larger study looking at professional attitudes to the assessment, management, treatment, and integration of people who have sexually offended. The survey sampled members of an international organisation, with 3,000+ members across 20 countries, involved in assessment, treatment, and integration back into the community of people who have been convicted of a sexual offence. The survey had 82 respondents, of those 46 were female (57%) and 36 were male (43%). The participants spanned 17 countries with a mixed response rate, for some countries had many participants (i.e., Australia, New Zealand, and Italy) and other had few (Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland). Record #6875