A NEW specialist service to help children deal with sexual abuse has been launched.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with the children's charity Safe! to set up the Horizon service.

The service will work with children aged from just a few months old to 18 who have been victims of sexual abuse or sexual harm and their families.

Clinical psychologist Dr Carmen Chen is leading the new project, which she said would help youngsters pick up their pieces of their lives again.

Dr Chan said the new service had been in the pipeline for a while because of the heightened awareness about child sexual abuse caused by Operation Bullfinch – which saw

seven men given prison sentences totalling 95 years for offences in Oxford including rape, facilitating child prostitution and trafficking – and other child sexual exploitation cases.

She added: "It's been an idea for a number of years.

"A lot of senior practitioners felt it is an important service to come about.

"With the increased awareness in recent years and high profile cases the momentum really built up to bring the team together."

Although it is not clear how many children will be supported by the new service, the county's serious case review last year found more than 360 youngsters were suspected of having been abused or in danger of being groomed.

Dr Chan added: "We know that early trauma like sexual abuse can have long-standing effects.

"Trauma can affect children and teenagers in a lot of different ways, relationships with themselves, their parents, or how well they do at school.

"Hopefully by addressing these they can engage in school in a better way, they can develop and foster better relationships – especially with themselves.

"I think of it as building their personal resilience and confidence and getting over the trauma of the past."

Safe! is a charity supporting young people between the ages of 8 and 25 in the Thames Valley who have been hurt by a crime or bullying.

Children and teenagers can be referred to the new Horizon service, which was launched on Wednesday[feb24], in a variety of ways: through the police, social services, charities, their GP or hospital or mental health provider.

Dr Chan heads up a team that includes a psychiatrist, a social worker, and a nurse.

The team offers a range of psychological and psychiatric support to youngsters, their families and carers as well as social workers and other support workers.

These include helping children build coping mechanisms, helping parents understand the impact of the sexual harm or abuse on their children, building self confidence and trauma therapy.

Dr Chan said building trust was important in supporting children who have been abused or sexually harmed.

She added: "It's often useful for them to work with someone they know and trust.

"We might be working directly with the young person or indirectly with them through a professional already involved in their care."

The service aims to connect with all the different support groups to provide children and teenagers as much support as possible to overcome the abuse or harm inflicted on them.