Harmful Sexual Behaviour

Problematic sexual behaviour (PSB) is developmentally inappropriate or socially unexpected sexualised behaviour which doesn’t have an overt element of victimisation or abuse.

Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) is developmentally inappropriate sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people which is harmful or abusive.

Harmful sexual behaviour’ describes a continuum of behaviours displayed by children and young people under 18, ranging from those considered ‘inappropriate’ at a particular age or developmental stage to ‘problematic’, ‘abusive’ and ‘violent’ behaviours.

Pre-adolescent children:

•  Behaviour is more likely to be at the ‘inappropriate’ or ‘problematic’ end of the continuum. Most pre-adolescent children displaying harmful sexual behaviour have themselves been sexually abused or experienced other kinds of trauma or neglect.

Older children and young people:

• Displaying harmful sexual behaviour are mostly boys, many of whom have a history of adverse childhood experiences and family difficulties.

Children with learning disabilities or autism:

• Children and young people with learning disabilities are more vulnerable both to being sexual abused and to displaying inappropriate or problematic sexual behaviour; in one large UK study, 38% of under-18s referred to specialist services because of harmful sexual behaviour were assessed as having a learning disability. 

• Reasons why some children and young people with learning disabilities may be more likely to display harmful sexual behaviour include having less understanding that some sexual behaviours are not acceptable, and fewer opportunities to establish acceptable sexual relationships; receiving less sex education; struggling with social skills; and relating more easily to children younger than themselves.

• While research suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorders are not at increased risk of offending generally, a proportion of harmful sexual behaviours in individuals with autism may result from specific difficulties in understanding what other people may be thinking or feeling.

Girls and young women:

• Studies have found that girls and young women displaying abusive sexual behaviour are likely to have experienced more victimisation (including intra-familial sexual abuse, other forms of abuse and frequent exposure to family violence) than boys.

• Harmful sexual behaviour tends to be identified at a younger age in girls than in boys, and tends to involve younger victims. 

• It is relatively rare for girls’ abusive sexual behaviour to involve the use of physical force. 

• Girls displaying harmful sexual behaviour are less likely than boys to be charged with an offence, in part because they and their victims tend to be younger – but, like boys who display harmful sexual behaviour, they often have difficulties in school and relatively high levels of learning difficulties.

It is important to remember that most sexually abused children and young people do not go on to abuse others, and the majority of children and young people displaying harmful sexual behaviour do not commit sexual offences as adults.

Peer-on-peer sexual abuse is a form of HSB where sexual abuse takes place between children of a similar age or stage of development. Child-on-child sexual abuse is a form of HSB that takes place between children of any age or stage of development.

Research on the role of technology in harmful sexual behaviour is limited, especially given the increasing independence of children and young people online. 

A UK survey found that 48% of 11–16-year-olds had viewed pornography, with over a third doing so weekly. 

Studies suggest that frequent pornography use is linked to negative gender attitudes and a higher likelihood of sexually coercive behaviour. The relationship between pornography consumption and harmful behaviour is complex and influenced by factors like age, viewing motivation, and content type. However, young people who exclusively view child sexual abuse images tend to have fewer adverse childhood experiences and more stable backgrounds than those committing other sexual offences.

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