The Smiley System

Before we can help the children, it is important that we know what child sexual abuse is. It is important that we can recognize situations that are not good for children. 

 

But how can we recognize that?

To recognize child sexual abuse, it is important to look at a couple criteria and to categorize the behaviour. When we look at all these elements together, we can see if a behaviour is appropriate, light inappropriate, very inappropriate or strong inappropriate. Each behaviour is linked with a smiley.

 

Criteria
Voluntary engagement The situation must be done voluntarily
Equality The people in the situation need to be equal (equal in force, power...)
Development The behaviour needs to fit in the development and age of the child
Context The behaviour must be in the right context
Self-respect The behaviour must reckon with self-respect
Consent There needs to be mutual consent, so both of the parties need to agree to the situation
Categories
Okay The behaviour is normal
Not so okay The behaviour is not so normal, not sure about the behaviour
Not okay The behaviour is not normal
Totally not okay The behaviour is bad and totally not normal

Appropriate sexual behaviour

"I am feeling okay with this situation."

Light inappropriate sexual behaviour

"I don't know how to feel about this situation. I don't know if it's alright."

Very inappropriate sexual behaviour

"I am not feeling okay about this situation"

Strong inappropriate sexual behaviour

"I am feeling really bad about this situation."

This video shows how to work with the Smiley System. Have fun watching!