Sexual abuse of children: Representation of Class, Race and Gender

The recent revelations of sexual abuses by high profile public figures such as Jimmy Saville, Cyril Smith, and Stuart Hall have raised concerns of a culture of abuse in some of our most respected public institutions, the failure of public agencies to listen to and protect young people and abuses of power. By contrast, the coverage of ‘paedophile gangs’ in Oxford, Rochdale and other northern towns have focussed on issues around race and ethnicity. In both situations it seems that the ‘voices’ of survivors of abuse have been ignored, challenged or even dismissed.

The workshop will explore the way these issues are conceptualised, and provide a space wherein the academic, policy and practitioner communities can bring insights to these challenging debates. We are keen to attract interest across a range of academic, policy and practitioner disciplines to reflect the way that claims of sexual abuse have been reported across a range of public spheres from the world of television, music schools and sports. We hope that by bringing people together from across a wide range of spheres we can begin to develop interdisciplinary perspectives to better understand these issues.

The workshop will be of interest to people working in the field of social policy, social work, sociology, sports science, public policy, health care, criminology, local government, media studies etc. We are particularly keen to hear from early career academics, policy makers, practitioners and PhD candidates.  We are proposing this workshop to share ideas, experiences and to build interdisciplinary collaborations leading to a special themed journal, edited book and research funding applications.

Register your interest:

To confirm your place, please contact Sarah Myring with the following details:

• Who you are (research interests/publications/research funding);
• Why you are interested in attending;
• What you hope to gain from the event.

External contributors:

Carlene Firmin (University of Bedfordshire)

Jacqui Jensen (Director of Children’s Services, Birmingham City Council)

Jamie-Lee Mooney Saunt (Lancaster University)

Trish O’Donnell (Development Manager, NSPCC)

Pragna Patel (Director, Southall Black Sisters)

Suzanne Smith (Rochdale Council)