Perspective Chapter: Where angels fear to tread: anxieties over researching child sexuality must be overcome

Abstract

Anxieties over encountering disapproval, rather than bona fide ethical concerns, have inhibited research so profoundly that child sexual development is still poorly understood even after over a century of theorising. This is despite growing awareness of the need for evidence-based and effective relationships and sex education (RSE) to promote healthy relationships, and also intense concern over child sexual abuse (CSA), not least because many clinical and forensic interventions have failed through being poorly informed and misconceived – notably as regards the sexuality of the children most at risk. This chapter will examine the professional codes that pertain to ethical research in respect of children's rights as research participants, along with the risk and potential benefits of such research. Sexual health, in contrast with developmental normativity, will be identified as a new research paradigm, and its ethical implications will be discussed.