Michele Irmiter Elliott

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

is an author, psychologist, teacher and the founder and director of child protection charity

Kidscape Kidscape is a London-based charity established in 1985, by child psychologist Michele Elliott. Its focus is on children's safety, with an emphasis on the prevention of harm by equipping children with techniques and mindsets that help them s ...

. She has chaired

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

and Home Office working groups and is a Winston Churchill fellow.

Early life

Elliott was born on 7 January 1946 to James Irmiter and Ivy (née Dashwood). She graduated from Hollins School in 1964. She was awarded a BA in Science and Education and an MA degree in Psychology from the University of South Florida and the University of Florida She began working with families and children in 1968 in London.

Work

Elliott worked as a child psychologist in London schools for 14 years, then started lecturing about the issues child sexual abuse and bullying.

Kidscape

Elliott founded Kidscape in 1984 to help children stay safe from

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

and from

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

. Elliott has been a high-profile figure and Kidscape was named Charity of the Year in 2000. Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', David Brindle suggested the award was "an undoubted reflection of the vibrancy of Michele Elliott".

Female child sexual abuse offenders

Elliott, who had previously written books about male abuse of children, has undertaken pioneering work in investigating and raising awareness of the problem and extent of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

committed by women, and the topic of female

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

, publishing the book ''Female Sexual Abuse of Children The Last Taboo'' in 1992. The book was well received by professionals and survivors' organisations. Mike Lew described it as "an important and challenging work", helping "to forge a new understanding of the issues". Doody's annual stated it was "an extremely valuable book for all professionals, and it greatly increases the current state of knowledge, or lack of that knowledge, that can have a profound influence on the survivor's development and recovery". Elliott's work in exposing the issue of child sexual abuse committed by women has also resulted in hostility from

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. While compiling ''Female Sexual Abuse of Children'', Elliott organised a conference in London concerning sexual abuse by women. After publishing the book, Elliott was subject to a "deluge" of

hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...

from feminists.

Awards

In 2008 Elliot was honoured with an

by the Queen for services to children. The following year she was named Children and Young People's Champion. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Post University in 1998 and another honorary doctorate by the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 2003. She was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 1996. Her book, "Bullies, Cyberbullies and Frenemies" received the Literary Classics Gold Award in 2013.

Personal life

Elliot married Edward Elliott in 1964; they have two sons and 3 grandchildren. She lives in

Rye, East Sussex Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother District, Rother district of East Sussex, England, from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the River Rother (Eastern), Rother, the River Tillingham, Tillingham and the River Brede, Brede. An ...

.Michele Elliott

Publications

* ''Keeping Safe: A Practical Guide to Talking with Children'' by Michele Elliott and Alice Englander, 1986, NCVO Publications, * ''The Willow Street Kids: It's Your Right to be Safe'' by Michele Elliott, 1986, Andre Deutsch Ltd * ''The Willow Street Kids: Be Smart Stay Safe'' by Michele Elliott, 1987, Piccolo Books * ''Feeling Happy, Feeling Safe'' by Michele Elliott, 1991, Hodder Children's Books, * ''Female Sexual Abuse Of Children: The Ultimate Taboo'' by Michele Elliott, 1994, Guilford Press * ''Keeping Safe'' by Phil Collins and Michele Elliott, 1994, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd * ''Teenscape: Personal Safety Programme for Teenagers'' by Michele Elliott, 1995, Health Education Authority * ''501 Ways to be a Good Parent'' by Michele Elliott, 1996, Hodder Mobius * ''101 Ways to Deal with Bullying: A Guide for Parents'' by Michele Elliott, 1997, Hodder Mobius, * ''The Willow Street Kids: Be Smart Stay Safe'' by Michele Elliott, 1997, Macmillan Children's Books, * ''The Willow Street Kids: Beat the Bullies'' by Michele Elliott, 1997, Macmillan Children's Books, * ''601 Ways to Be a Good Parent: A Practical Handbook for Raising Children Ages Four to Twelve'', by Michele Elliott, 1999, Citadel, * ''Bully-free: Activities to Promote Confidence and Friendship'' by Michele Elliott, Gaby Shenton and Roz Eirew, 1999, Kidscape * ''How to Stop Bullying'' by Michele Elliott and Jane Kirkpatrick, 2001, Kidscape * ''Bullying: A Practical Guide to Coping for Schools'' by Michele Elliott, 2002, Pearson Education, * ''Dealing with Bullying: Training Guide for Teachers of Children and Young People with Special Needs'' by Michele Elliott, Claude Knights, 2008, Kidscape * ''The Essential Guide to Tackling Bullying: Practical Skills for Teachers'' by Michele Elliott, 2011, Longman, * "Bullies, Cyberbullies and Frenemies", by Michele Elliott, 2013, Hodder, * "Stop Bullying Pocketbook", 2nd edition, by Michele Elliott, 2010, Teachers' Pocketbooks, * "PONLE UN ALTO AL BULLYING", by Michele Elliott, 2014, Educacion Aplicada, Mexico,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Michele British child psychologists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) American non-fiction writers British non-fiction writers Living people 1946 births University of South Florida alumni University of Florida alumni People from St. Petersburg, Florida Dixie Hollins High School alumni