The North West Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy
In 2025, forty-one strategic leaders from across the North West—representing health providers, the Integrated Care Board, police, children’s services, education, probation, and the voluntary, community and faith sector—came together with the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to develop the North West Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.
This strategy sets out a shared ambition to ensure that all children in the North West who are at risk of, or who have experienced, sexual abuse receive the support and protection they need. Together, we identified five key priorities:
Effectively identify child sexual abuse
Respond with the right support and services
Work together effectively across agencies
Develop a confident and skilled workforce
Demonstrate strong system leadership and accountability
The North West strategy aims to support and enable local areas to understand their own practice and leadership, share what is working well, and drive improvement locally. The North West Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy is supported through the delivery of training (including recorded sessions), tools for self-assessment, reflective practice, and peer reviews. It aims to support local areas in developing the detail of its prevention, identification and response to CSA.