Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) without appropriate support can have a significant and long lasting effect on a child’s development, especially if behaviours are repeated and severe. This can effect across many domains include emotional, social, cognitive, and physical (World Health Organization, 2024).

In many situations for children HSB can be connected to earlier experiences in the child’s life, such as, exposure to sexualised environments, unsafe relationships with caregivers, limited supervision and inconsistent boundaries at home. This causes students to have difficulty understanding boundaries, relationships, safety, and their sense of self. In the schooling environment these impacts can affect wellbeing and learning which is why early trauma informed intervention is important.

 

Emotional and Psychological Impacts:

• Issues trusting others
• High levels of anxiety, shame, guilt and confusion
• Dysregulated and high stress responses

 

Social Impacts:

• Isolation from peers
• Issues forming healthy relationships
• Difficulty understanding boundaries and consent

 

Cognitive Impacts:

• Limited ability to concentrate and retain information
• High stress levels affecting thinking
• Issues with self-control and problem solving

 

Physical Impacts:

• Unable to understand safe and unsafe physical behaviour
• Exposed to sexualised content
• Risk tasking behaviour

(World Health Organization, 2024) (Hackett, 2011) (Terre des Hommes Neverlands, 2025)

 

These impacts may not be the only impacts affecting these domains, as these impacts rarely occur in isolation. If these children who experience HSB aren’t treated with the appropriate support, their developmental impacts can continue and decrease the safety of others and themselves. A trauma informed response will encourage healthier developmental and learning outcomes by prioritizing safety, consistency, and supportive relationships (Government of Western Australia, 2022, p36).