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A guide to identify, understand and respond to sexual behaviours in children and young people.
The tool categorises sexual behaviours into green, orange and red light categories and gives examples for different age groups. This helps you to make consistent and informed decisions and have meaningful conversations about appropriate sexual behaviours.
The tool helps you understand appropriate behaviours for different age groups but it is also important to take into account the developmental age and ability level of the child or young person (and others involved) as well as the location, frequency and nature of the behaviour.
Sexual behaviours for each age group can be categorised as a green, orange or red light. The Tool will help you identify whether behaviours such as kissing, touching genitals, masturbating, lifting another child’s skirt, drawing sexually explicit artwork are a cause for concern and what you can do.
Green light sexual behaviours are typical and developmentally appropriate.
They are:
These behaviours provide opportunities to talk, explain and provide support.
Orange light sexual behaviours cause concern because of:
These behaviours signal should not be ignored and signal the need to monitor and provide targeted support.
Red light sexual behaviours indicate or cause harm because they are:
These behaviours signal the need to provide immediate protection and follow up support.
The original Traffic Light Tool is owned by the Australian organisation True Relationships & Reproductive Health. We worked with professionals and young people for its use in the UK.
Brook is the only organisation in the UK who can give you access and training to use the Traffic Light Tool. We’ve been using the Tool for over 10 years and have trained thousands of people with over 95% approval rates.
Safeguarding is a priority for Brook and is taken seriously by professionals. Day to day we endeavour provide the best possible safeguarding practice to the people we support whom require additional care and protection.
We embed these principles and practices in developing our training offer.
We are confident that our approach is effective in identifying risk and that we respond in the best interests of our clients and users to keep them safe. We will continue to work with professionalism, curiosity and desire to learn and evolve our safeguarding practice, recognising that there is no room for complacency and that you deserve the highest quality support.
Professionals must attend a group Traffic Light Tool group training session or complete the online course to be able to use the tool safely and, therefore, the tool cannot be shared with staff who have not completed training.
The Traffic Light Tool supplements your safeguarding processes and is not a replacement for your organisation’s safeguarding procedures.
After completing the training, you will be able to:
We offer many different training options, whether you want to train when it suits you or license the tool to upskill your entire organisation. Once you’ve completed the training you’ll get access to the Traffic Light Tool.
Complete the training at your own pace and in your own time on our online learning platform
Already enrolled? Log in to Brook Learn
Book individual spaces on our online group training sessions or organise a session with us to train a group of your staff.
Train your staff to deliver the Traffic Light Tool training in your organisation or lease the online course on your LMS.
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