Confidence, Training and Challenges for Canadian Child Advocacy Center Staff When Working with Cases of Online and In-person Child Sexual Exploitation

Child Advocacy Centers are interdisciplinary hubs that play a vital role in responding to child maltreatment, especially sexual abuse. Sexual abuse cases increasingly involve an online component, but no studies have examined the experience of Child Advocacy Center staff in dealing with online sexual exploiftation. This study surveyed 37 staff at five Child Advocacy Centers in Alberta, Canada to understand their ability to recognize and respond to concerns about online and in-person sexual exploitation of their clients. The majority of respondents (54%) dealt with cases that involved grooming, luring, sexual abuse and child sexual abuse imagery (also known as child pornography) in the last year. Staff were equally confident in their ability to recognize and respond to grooming, luring, sexual abuse and child sexual abuse imagery. However, staff were more likely to have formal training in identifying sexual abuse and less likely to encounter difficulties in responding to sexual abuse relative to grooming, luring or child sexual abuse imagery. Clinicians used similar therapies when working with youth impacted by sexual abuse versus child sexual abuse imagery. Given that most Child Advocacy Center staff in our sample dealt with online child sexual exploitation, additional training in this area may be warranted.