Parents & Caregivers
“The workshops were very insightful, motivating and a wakeup call. The most powerful part was receiving practical tools on how we can best protect the children”
trauma-informed, community-focused training
HIPS provides trauma-informed, community-focused training designed specifically for parents and caregivers. Each workshop is developed in collaboration with a team that combines professional expertise with lived experience, ensuring the content is both evidence-based and deeply grounded in real-world understanding.
Workshops are designed to educate parents and caregivers about the risks of child sexual abuse aim to increase awareness, enhance understanding, and provide practical guidance on how to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.
Why This Matters
The stark reality is child sexual abuse is, far more common – and far closer to home – than we may think. While it’s understandably uncomfortable to think about, the reality is:
01.
Over 90% of children who are abused are abused by someone they know and trust
02.
Perpetrators often go out of their way to appear trustworthy, responsible, and even helpful – both to the child and to the adults around them.
03.
Children may not disclose abuse because of fear, shame, confusion, or loyalty to the abuser. Some are too young to understand what’s happening, or they may not have the language to describe it.
04.
Many victims don’t disclose until adulthood.
Topics Covered
Each workshop is tailored to the unique needs of each group or community
considering factors such as age, cultural background, community context, and lived experiences. Perpetrators adapt their tactics when targeting victims, so effective prevention must be just as adaptable.
✅ HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CHILD ABOUT SEXUAL ABUSE
- Age-appropriate language to discuss body parts, privacy, and consent
- How to have ongoing—not one-off—conversations
- Scripts and tips to help you overcome nerves or fear
✅ UNDERSTANDING GROOMING
- What grooming looks like—and what it doesn’t
- How abusers groom both children and the parents/care-givers
- Real-world examples to help you spot early warning signs
✅ BUILDING PROTECTIVE BOUNDARIES
- Teaching your child how to say “no” and why it’s powerful
- Safe vs unsafe touch: how to explain it clearly
- Implementing and practising boundaries at home
- Helping your child identify trusted adults they can talk to
✅ RECOGNISING THE RED FLAGS
- Emotional, behavioural, and physical signs of abuse
- How to respond if your child discloses something to you
- What not to say—and why your reaction matters more than you think
✅ CREATING A SAFER HOME AND COMMUNITY
- How to vet babysitters, coaches, relatives, and friends
- The role of digital safety in child protection
How to build a family culture of openness, trust, and safety
Survivor Stories
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.
I wish I had the words to explain what was happening – but I didn’t. I was seven. I didn’t even know the names of the body parts he was touching. All I knew was it felt wrong and ‘weird’. But no one had ever told me what to do if something like this happened. It started with him putting me onto his lap – in front of everyone at a party and I remember it feeling odd but my brain was too young to know what was going on – now I know, he was having an erection. Bit by bit, it escalated. I told myself nothing was happening, just so I could get through it. But it kept happening.
It was my mum’s best friend.
Why Olivia as a child didn’t speak out:
- Didn’t have the language
- Didn’t understand what abuse was
- Normalized contact because it started publicly
- No adult ever gave her the tools to recognize or report abuse
If your child doesn’t know how to talk about their body, how can they talk about someone violating it?
It was my cousin. We were just playing like we did every summer holiday when I stayed at his parents. One day, he put his hand down my trousers. Then he made me do the same to him. I didn’t say anything not because I was keeping a secret, but because I didn’t know it was something to talk out about. We were the same age so I guess it just felt like somehow it was normal and I was in the wrong for feeling scared. It was also very confusing as after we carried on playing, had dinner and went to bed. My head couldn’t make sense of it so I blocked it out – but then it happened a few other times over the years until stopped going at the age of 14.
Why Mahvesh didn’t speak:
- No framework for understanding abuse between children
- Confused by the lack of adult reaction
- Thought mutual age meant mutual experience
- Silence felt like safety in confusion
If you haven’t told your children what is and isn’t OK – someone else will define it for them.
She used to come into my room at night. She’d lie down beside me, touch my breast and, lick my neck. I was scared. But I didn’t say anything – because in my culture, you respect your elders. And because she was family, I thought maybe this was just a different kind of love – oh, it sounds ridiculous but that’s honestly what I thought as a child. It was only when I got older but I realise because it was being done in secret, it was wrong and when I told her to stop doing it she said nobody would believe me because I’m the child and she is the adult. So I kept quiet to avoid causing trouble at home with my family because there’s already so much going on. I believed it was my fault. I still haven’t told anyone – until now. It’s much harder when it’s female and female abuse I think – it’s just not spoken about enough.
Why Brianna as a child didn’t speak out:
- Groomed through familiarity and misplaced trust
- Cultural norms around respecting adults
- Internalized guilt
- No one created a safe environment for disclosure
Family can be the hardest place to speak if the perpetrator is also family – especially when silence is disguised as loyalty.
My stepdad used to come into my room and rape me – several times a week. He told me it was love, but also he was so stressed from all the hours he has to work to look after me and my mum that this was my duty. He would often say without him doing this, he would not be able to look after us and not leave. Growing up with my mum trying to get a job as a immigrant and being treated so terribly petrified me. She worked as a cleaner but would often not get paid and it was horrible. Now as an adult I know he took advantage because we are both vulnerable but as a child I was scared and didn’t speak because I couldn’t risk my mum having another depressive episode. She was an incredible woman and did her very best. He saw that and manipulated it. I tried to speak up. But I didn’t have the right words, so I acted out. I would’ve told my mum. But trying to protect her. She had already been through so much. I stayed silent… but not because I wanted to, but because for some reason, as a child, I thought I had to make the sacrifice to look after my mum”
Why Ifetayo didn’t speak out:
- Grooming and threatening behaviour by the stepdad created fear and confusion
- Extreme trauma responses misunderstood as “behavioural issues”
- Child taking on parent role (unintentionally)
- Witnessed mother’s financial struggles and feared losing essential support
Children don’t always say “I’m being abused.” Sometimes they scream it through behaviour.