The Lighthouse: A safe space for child sexual abuse victims in the UK

Jul 2, 2020

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In early 2016 we met representatives from the United Kingdom at the very first networking and working meeting PROMISE. At that time, the UK was a pilot country in our project, which aimed at enabling Europe to establish a one stop shop approach as the standard approach to supporting child victims of violence. An approach we call Barnahus.

The role of the UK and their pilot country peers was to provide concrete input to a number of standard setting documents, and to engage in our networking activities – spreading knowledge and practice not only from countries who already had what is known as a Barnahus, but also among countries who at the time were still working towards establishing their own such services.

It didn’t take long for our pilot countries to start becoming model countries, and the UK is certainly no exception.

The Lighthouse is a service for children and young people in North London who have experienced any form of child sexual abuse, including exploitation. At The Lighthouse we put the child at the centre, to make sure they have a safe place to recover at their own pace and rebuild their lives. Medical, advocacy, social care, police, and therapeutic support are delivered in one location, providing a coordinated approach to supporting children and young people. We want children, young people and their families to receive the justice, support and therapy they need, in a timely manner, to move forward in their recovery from abuse.

This webinar covers:

An introduction to the Lighthouse service and the child-led journey
Who is supported at the Lighthouse
Our whole-family approach to therapeutic and advocacy support – including the parent education course
The impact Lighthouse has on the criminal justice process and the child’s experience
Medical and sexual health support
How we work with other agencies – social care, schools, local mental health services

Watch this webinar to hear from all of the professional teams co-located at The Lighthouse about their work.