The annual abuse conference run by Hugh James and the NSPCC took place on 13 February 2020 in our office in Two Central Square, Cardiff.

The abuse conference is an opportunity to bring together a whole range of service providers who assist survivors of sexual abuse so thoughts, expertise and opinions can be shared to make the experience for survivors better.

This year focussed on a range of issues, from the definition of “Positions of Trust” in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to support services for survivors who have found themselves in trouble with the law, but one important issue which came starkly into focus were opportunities to stop child abuse before it had occurred.

Whilst this might seem an incalculably difficult task, insights provided by Professor Bisson into the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences in childhood on an adult in later life demonstrated that focus towards healing those who have had these experiences could assist in curving trends in the future.

Sam Barker of Hugh James spoke about the issue of consent in civil proceedings for compensation arising out of childhood sexual abuse. Whilst this seemed a nonsense to many in the audience, it is an unfortunate reality that consent is more often being used in a case where an abuser has been convicted of a sexual offence, but a lack of consent is not an element of that offending.

In today’s podcast, Alan and Sam discuss these issues further and welcome any thoughts from listeners.

If you enjoyed listening to this episode of the HJ Talks About Abuse podcast, you can listen to our other episodes on your favourite streaming platforms with the buttons above.

All of our episodes are also available to listen to on our website here. To find out more about what Alan and Sam do, visit the abuse page.