Victim and survivor research

Summary

Victims and survivors were the core focus the Truth Project. Therefore we wanted to gain a deeper and truer understanding of their experiences of child sexual abuse, their experiences of disclosure and reporting, and their life journeys into adulthood. 

Support Services 

Research into the support services available to victims and survivors sought to:

• Explore through a mixed methods study, the perceptions of support, reasons for not accessing support, the perceived unmet needs, and understanding around what is currently available.

Characteristics and vulnerabilities of victims and survivors 

Research into presenting the voices of victims and survivors sought to:

• Commission Lancaster University to review the literature on who victims and surviviors are of online facilitated child sexual abuse.

Impacts

Research into the impacts of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse sought to:

• Summarise existing evidence on the impacts on victims and survivors of child sexual abuse throughout their life course, the families of victims and survivors, and wider society. 

• Identify evidence gaps in the above areas.

Voices

Research into presenting the voices of victims and survivors sought to:

• Covering their experiences, the perpetrators of the sexual abuse, their experiences of disclosure and reporting and impacts of the sexual abuse suffered.