The influences that can be exerted on children’s sexual behaviours are manifold. For example, age-appropriate sexual behaviours can be affected for a number of different reasons including, but not limited to:

• Physical, sexual abuse and emotional neglect;
• Accidental/non-accidental exposure to sexually explicit material such as internet pornography or other forms of pornography
• Exposure to sexual activities between adults
• Exposure to domestic violence
• Loss or experience of other traumatic events

Most sexual behaviours exhibited by children and younger people will „settle” into a normative development range. The challenges is to identify sexual behaviours that fall outside this range and decide whether or not those behaviours indicate violence.

The following is information taken from a chart created by Simon Hackett in 2010, found in the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) UK study specifically on sexual behaviour:

Framework for harmful sexual behaviour:

Normal:

• Expected in terms of development;
• Socially acceptable;
• Consensual, reciprocal;
• Joint decision-making process.

Inappropriate:

• Singular situations of inappropriate behaviours
• Socially acceptable behaviours in the youth group
• Context of behaviour may be inappropriate
• Generally consensual and reciprocal

Problematic:

• Problematic and worrying behaviour
• Unusual in terms of development and socially unexpected
• No obvious elements of victimization
• The issue of consent may be unclear;
• Possible lack of reciprocity or equality of power
• May include levels of compulsivity

Abusive:

• Intention or result of victimisation;
• Includes abuse of force;
• Coercion and force to secure compliance of victims;
• Intrusive;
• Lack of informed consent or inability of victim to freely express consent;
• May include elements of expressive violence.

Violent:

• Physically violent sexual abuse;
• Very intrusive;
• Instrumental violence that is psychologically and/or sexually inflicted on the perpetrator;

Bibliography:

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1657/harmful-sexual-behaviour-framework.pdf