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Although we have examples of and evidence for sexual abuse prevention initiatives internationally, these tend to come from a small, select group of countries (i.e., United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia) and not from a broader global pool. This article will present the qualitative data from an online study ( n = 82), covering 17 countries, on professionals\u2019 (i.e., people working in the arena of sexual offending from a clinical, criminal justice, policy, research, and\/or practice perspective) perceptions sexual abuse prevention in theory, practice, and policy. The article identifies three main themes: (a) professionals\u2019 understandings of the prevention of sexual abuse, (b) public understanding of sexual abuse prevention, and (c) governmental attitudes towards, and support of, sexual abuse prevention programs. The article highlights that, although there are similar understandings of sexual abuse prevention internationally, practice is characterised by national differences in the funding of, provision of, and public\/policy perceptions of prevention as well as its impact on offending.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/0306624x20919706","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,23]],"date-time":"2020-05-23T04:46:41Z","timestamp":1590209201000},"page":"815-831","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Professionals\u2019 Understandings of and Attitudes to the Prevention of Sexual Abuse: An International Exploratory Study"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"65","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7766-9410","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kieran","family":"McCartan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of the West of England, Bristol, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kasia","family":"Uzieblo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Care Specialists, Utrecht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Ghent University, Belgium"},{"name":"Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wineke J.","family":"Smid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forensic Care Specialists, Utrecht, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-0306624X20919706","first-page":"14","volume":"18","author":"Abeid M.","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMC International Health and Human Rights"},{"key":"bibr2-0306624X20919706","unstructured":"Australian Human Rights Commission. 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