Our kids’ personal safety, where do we even begin? Child sexual abuse prevention - with Alison Geale, CEO of Bravehearts

**This episode discusses child sexual abuse. Please listen with care and reach out to a support service if you need to speak to someone. Visit ChildSafety.gov.au/Get-Support (childsafety.gov.au/Get-Support) for a list of services.**

We speak to Alison Geale, CEO of Bravehearts (bravehearts.org.au), who works to provide a holistic approach to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse. This is a big but important topic and we’ve gathered your top questions to help educate us on having personal safety conversations with our kids. We discuss…

• What are age-appropriate discussions (childsafety.gov.au/having-conversations/having…) to have regarding personal safety?

• Bringing up big topics if you’re feeling awkward

• Moving beyond ‘stranger danger’

• Identifying the red flags of childsafety.gov.au/about-child-sexual-abuse/gr…

• The importance of asking our kids questions as conversation starters

• What to do if children disclose a safety concern (childsafety.gov.au/about-child-sexual-abuse/re…) with you

• “It might feel bad, it might feel good but it’s not right” - explaining physical responses to abuse

• How can we give our kids a safe childhood with these worries in mind?

• Sharing your child safety boundaries with other families

• Peer-on-peer sexual abuse (childsafety.gov.au/about-child-sexual-abuse/wh…) - what it is and what steps to take

• What are developmentally expected sexual behaviors?

• Nappy changes to doctor visits, how do we explain what a safe scenario looks like?

• Knowing the power of these preventative and supportive conversations

Additional links:

• Bravehearts ‘Protecting Children and Young People from Sexual Abuse: A Guide for Parents & Carers’ - Free Download (bravehearts.org.au/about-child-sexual-abuse/re…)

• Child Safety online resources to teach body safety (childsafety.gov.au/having-conversations/resour…)

This episode is brought to you by The Australian Government’s One Talk at a Time campaign (childsafety.gov.au/having-conversations/one-ta…), which is all about the little conversations that help keep our kids safe.

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