Sibling Sexual Abuse Project

This 8-minute film shares messages from adult survivors of sibling sexual abuse to other survivors in order to convey that they are not alone and to acknowledge what they experienced was abuse through seeing and/or hearing the voices of other survivors.

This film provides information on sibling sexual abuse and how this type of abuse has been minimised and dismissed by professionals over decades. It explains why sibling sexual abuse is such a complex abuse with the extra layers of shame, pressure and fear that adult survivors may feel due to family dynamics and societal shunning. The ‘long tail’ of abuse is highlighted in that it can be decades later that a victim will ‘join the dots’ and work out the root cause of emotional, mental and physical health issues is the sibling sexual abuse. The film acknowledges that brothers and sisters abuse; and, there is no hierarchy of abuse. And finally, the film encourages them to seek support when they feel ready and signpost them to online support.

It was made in 2022 by the Home Office funded, RCEW National Project on Sibling Sexual Abuse. Please be aware that the film has a trigger warnings for discussing child sexual abuse specifically sibling sexual abuse.