Society guideline links: Sexual abuse in children and adolescents

Introduction — 

This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: Sexual assault".)

International

●Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN): Joint position statement on emergency department care for prepubescent patients who have been sexually abused (2024)

●IAFN: Sexual assault nurse examiner education guidelines, adult and pediatric (updated 2018)

●World Health Organization (WHO): Clinical guidelines for responding to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused (2017)

Canada

●Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS): Position statement for the medical evaluation of pre-pubertal children with suspected sexual abuse (2020)

United States

●American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Clinical report on the pediatrician's role in preventing child maltreatment (2024)

●AAP: Red Book – Sexual assault and abuse in children and adolescents/young adults (2024)

●AAP: Policy statement on protecting children from sexual abuse by health care professionals and in the health care setting (2022)

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on adult manifestations of childhood sexual abuse (2011, reaffirmed 2022)

●Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines – Sexual assault or abuse of children (2021)

●AAP: Clinical report on care of the adolescent after an acute sexual assault (2017)

●Updated guidelines for the medical assessment and care of children who may have been sexually abused (2016)

●Guidelines for the use of molecular biological methods to detect sexually transmitted pathogens in cases of suspected sexual abuse in children (2012)

United Kingdom

●Opening doors: Suggested practice for medical professionals for when a child might be close to telling about abuse (2021)

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Quality standard on child abuse and neglect (2019)

●NICE: Clinical guideline on child maltreatment – When to suspect maltreatment in under 18s (2009, updated 2017)

●NICE: Guideline on child abuse and neglect (2017)

●NICE: Guideline on harmful sexual behaviour among children and young people (2016)

India

●Clinical practice guidelines for child sexual abuse (2019)

Australia–New Zealand

●Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP): Position statement on child sexual abuse (2016)