Earlier this year, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper commissioned a rapid audit, led by Baroness Casey, to examine existing data and evidence about group-based child sexual offences. They drew a comprehensive picture of the nature, scale, and profile of these crimes. Recently, the Government issued its response. They’ve accepted all 12 recommendations made in the audit report.
We have taken time to consider these recommendations, alongside previous recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Report on child sexual within the home environment.
We welcome the engagement across government on Baroness Casey’s audit and debate, which followed in the House of Commons. We will be working to ensure that the concern expressed by Members of Parliament is turned into action to prevent further child sexual abuse in our communities.
We particularly want to acknowledge the candour of Members of Parliament who shared their experiences of child sexual abuse in the debate. We are grateful for the courage shown in sharing their stories and very much welcome their contributions to a more open conversation about child sexual abuse.
It is vital that we have open conversations about child sexual abuse and the things that we can all do to help prevent it. We need to break down the “difficulty and awkwardness in society” identified by Baroness Casey when it comes to acknowledging and discussing child sexual abuse.
By discussing child sexual abuse openly, we can break down stigmas and taboos that act as barriers to protecting children. It is only by having uncomfortable conversations that we can truly prevent harm, so protective adults can do what they need to do to keep children safe, and so those at risk of causing harm to a child reach out for help to change their behaviour before it’s too late.
We particularly welcome Baroness Casey’s recommendation for the Department for Education to urgently interrogate child protection data to identify the causes of the decline in child sexual abuse and exploitation representation in child in need assessment data. Data from the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse shows that the number of child protection plans has fallen to their lowest levels in 30 years, and there has been a decline in the number of serious case reviews about child exploitation.
We urge the Government to ensure that the proposed national inquiry does not mean that action is put on pause. It took two and half years to hear the Government’s response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), we need to continue to implement those recommendations in parallel.
It is time for action to prevent child sexual abuse in all its forms
Child sexual abuse takes a number of different forms – for example, sexual abuse within the home by an adult family member, sexual abuse by a peer at school, sexual grooming and abuse online by a stranger, and street grooming by a gang. All cause great harm, but each needs a different response as well as different strategies to prevent it from happening in the first place. We need to understand each and take steps to prevent it – different forms of abuse will require different responses – and we already have evidence of what needs to be done in some areas. For example, the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Report from 2024 contains a range of vital recommendations on child sexual abuse within the family environment that cannot wait to be looked at.
It is also vital that the Government pushes on and drives the actions that were laid out in the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update in April. As we have outlined, a consistent, coordinated cross-government approach to preventing child sexual abuse would make a huge difference for children.
We need to address child sexual abuse in all its forms and recognise that child sexual abuse takes place in every UK neighbourhood. As we outline in our Closer to Home report, we need the government to look beyond criminal justice in their cross-governmental approach and to build capacity to prevent, identify and respond to harm. There is, however, hope; by focusing on evidence-based prevention strategies, we can stop much sexual abuse before it happens and better support survivors and victims.
Find out more
Read about how children are at risk of sexual abuse in every UK neighbourhood and how prevention strategies can keep them safe: https://www.closertohome.co.uk/
For information on how to keep children safe: https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/advice/
If you want to know more about the data: https://www.csacentre.org.uk/
If you’re a survivor who needs support: https://napac.org.uk/
How can we help you?
We provide training, assessments, intervention and consultancy to help prevent child sexual abuse.
Our anonymous Stop It Now helpline can support any adult worried about a child or young person’s sexual behaviour.
Our Shore website has anonymous advice and information for teenagers worried about their own or a friend’s sexual behaviour.
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