Managing sexual activity under the age of 13

The Scottish Government National Child Protection guidance states that all sexually active young people aged less than 13 years of age MUST have information shared. This information requires to be shared with the Child Protection Advisor,  police and social work or their named person depending on the details of the sexual activity.  The timing of this will depend on the individual clinical situation eg: assess the risk of harm. 

All these young people must be seen by or discussed with a senior clinician at the time that they attend if possible or at the earliest opportunity. 

Child protection measures MUST be instigated if the child is, or believed to be, sexually active and is aged less than 13 years of age.

• Relevant advice should be given and appropriate treatment offered
• Every effort should be made to get adequate contact details such as a mobile phone number to allow further contact
• All young people aged less than 13 years of age should have specific follow up arranged, to allow a further evaluation of their situation and any necessary medical follow up to take place. This is especially important where there are no/unreliable contact details
• Ensure follow up/ further assessment takes place
• They should be informed at their first attendance that information about their attendance will be shared with the appropriate social work team. Their consent to do this should be sought and they should be given the chance to discuss how this would be done.

The new National guidance on working with sexually active young people states that even if the young person is 13 years or over, a disclosure of historical sexual activity at under 13 years of age should also prompt information sharing with social work/appropriate agencies.

In the first instance discuss with the person responsible for young people within your service in line with local child protection protocols. These cases will be considered on a case by case basis and appropriate sharing in the young person’s best interests will be considered.