From awareness to action: Why Every G7 country needs a national action plan to end childhood sexual violence

Despite mounting awareness and survivor advocacy, no G7 country currently has an effective comprehensive strategy. Seven of the richest nations do not have a complete national action plan - that includes prevention, healing and justice - to address childhood sexual violence.

Without a national action plan, there is no meaningful action. Without action, we cannot ensure that children can thrive in safety, free from the threat of sexual violence.

These three pillars of prevention, healing, and justice deepen our understanding of the multifaceted nature of violence. Together they necessitate a comprehensive societal response that should be integrated into national and global policy making and adequately funded.

I wrote a play called GROOMED about the psychological effects of child sexual abuse. I presented it at the UK Home Office, at the Scottish Parliament, at the VATICAN. Lots of professional people thanked me warmly and said how much it had increased their ‘awareness’. Then they went to their homes and offices, and did…. What?

Awareness is a term used frequently about child sexual abuse. Governments, local authorities, even schools and sports centres give “awareness training” sessions to their staff, often on Zoom (it makes it so easy). These sessions can lead to lots of immediate tick-box sympathy, and a sense that the issue has been dealt with. It hasn’t.

The Police Crime Commissioners estimate one adult in 60 is a sexual threat to children. Many of these people are struggling with trying not to offend. That of course includes people who work directly with children. What help are we giving these people? Sending them to jail after the event is too late - the abuse has happened. The child has been damaged, perhaps for life.

We need early stage intervention and prevention. We need another notice on the wall - If you feel the urge to act sexually towards a child or young person, here is the confidential helpline to call. That helpline must be staffed by people trained to give skilled, non-judgemental understanding, and referral to ongoing professional help, probably long-term.

Sexually abused at aged 9 for a year by my elementary school teacher, any activity involving the body became agonisingly difficult. Changing rooms were dangerous, taking off clothes was unbearable. Sport equaled anxiety, even terror, and always the potential for shame. As a teenager I was mystified by the passion with which my schoolmates surveyed the league tables of football clubs and the scorecards of the weekly matches, though I was aware of how the movement of individual teams up and down indicated the potential for progress and for pride. I now understand how the league tables fostered in the supporters a richly human sense of belonging and identity. Survivors often find identity difficult. Abuse is damage to the core identity of the child that will persist forever unless properly attended to.

And abuse does not heal like a footballer’s broken ankle; as the great therapist Bessel Van de Koch tells us The Body Keeps the Score, and that score is frequently negative, painful and apparently unshiftable.

There are millions of adult survivors in every G7 country living with these scars. Most have never had access to trauma-informed care. Few have been offered specialist therapy, bodywork, or survivor-led support services. And still fewer have been heard, believed, and validated by the systems around them.

The cost in lost productivity, mental health provision, suicide prevention, crime prevention or imprisonment has been shown to be billions of pounds (Currently in the UK the Home Office reckons £16 billion per annum). The cost in simple human happiness is incalculable. Spend the money, Chancellor. You will save many times as much.

Justice is more than a verdict. It is about truth, visibility, and accountability. And it’s not just for individual perpetrators, but for institutions and systems that allowed abuse to happen or actively covered it up.

Many survivors are denied justice entirely due to statutes of limitation that prevent them from coming forward when they are finally ready. Others watch as institutions silence whistleblowers or pay out settlements without admitting wrongdoing. Survivors need justice systems that are trauma-informed, accessible, and survivor-centered. That includes national policies to eliminate legal barriers and to ensure that institutions can no longer hide behind bureaucracy.

As a survivor, I never felt like I belonged on a team. But now, I find meaning in a different kind of scorecard: the G7 Scorecard on childhood sexual violence. It tracks how seriously governments are taking action. It shows me which countries are moving toward green and which remain stuck in red.

Even small acts of progress can shift the score, from red to amber, from amber to green. Even a blog like this, or a survivor joining a support group, can mark a step toward reclaiming identity and connection. We all have a role to play.

But governments have the biggest one.

If you're a policymaker, health leader, or education official in a G7 country, this is not the moment to say “we’re aware.” It’s the moment to act.

Ask BRAVE. Ask survivors. Ask those at risk of offending. Ask your communities. But most importantly, ask yourself:

Why don’t we have a national action plan yet and what are we waiting for?

Right now, there are millions of children and young people across the world saying “Please stop it.”