NSPCC research shows fifty recorded child sex offences a day

Children were the victims of sex offences on more than 20,000 occasions recorded by police in England and Wales last year, NSPCC research reveals today (19 January).

Statistics obtained by the charity from 42 police forces (1) show that in nearly one in four cases (4,984) the victims were ten or younger.

Over 800 recorded offences involved children aged four and under - not even old enough to go to primary school. In 163 cases the victims were infants aged just one and two and more than one third (7,622) were aged 13-15.(2)

The statistics show there were 20,758 incidents where under-18s were recorded by police as victims of sex crimes, including rape, gross indecency and incest. The number of offences recorded against girls was six times higher than the number against boys.

The Home Office gathers data from police forces for its annual crime report, which shows there was a total of 53,540 for all sexual offences in 2007-08. This report only lists broad age ranges as defined by the recorded offence, such as 'sexual assault on a female child under 13', or 'sexual assault on a male aged 13 and over'.(3)

By mixing adult and children's statistics the Home Office reporting does not provide a clear picture of the number of child victims. Detailed age breakdowns of victims are collected by police but are not passed on to the Home Office.
 
The NSPCC is now calling on the UK Government to collect and publish annual data from police forces showing the number and ages of victims, and to clearly link this with the number of convictions, and other penalties, resulting from the recorded offences.

The NSPCC wants the UK Government to use this data as the basis of an improved national strategy to prevent abuse and develop local services, such as the NSPCC's Fresh Start (4), which is funded by The Children's Charity for the good of all children (5), to treat child victims through the Home Office's cross Government action plan on sexual violence.

Details of offenders and offences are kept by the forces but not all have statistics showing what happened after the crimes were reported. (6)

NSPCC director of public policy Phillip Noyes said: "These shocking figures reveal just how young many of the reported victims of sex abuse are, with even one-year-olds being at risk, although the highest numbers of offences were against children in their early teens. It's a grim picture but this is only a snapshot, as our research indicates there are many more abused children whose suffering never comes to light. (7)

"Clearly, very young children who are sexually abused can't speak out and it's currently very difficult to get a clear understanding of how many child sex abuse victims there are. If we are able to get these details every year it will start to build a more accurate picture of what is happening and we can make more concerted efforts to protect children."

In their responses to a Freedom of Information request by the NSPCC some forces said not all details were readily available and to retrieve them would require hundreds of files to be manually searched, resulting in prohibitive cost. There were outcomes on offenders which came in the form of cautions, charges, detected offences, reprimands and summonses. Some of these outcomes could include double-counting by the police.

Just over 1,000 offences by young people were recorded, which is why the NSPCC's call for consistent assessment and treatment of young people who sexually harm other children is so important.

The NSPCC runs 36 projects across the UK working with children who have been sexually abused, including Fresh Start.

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Notes to editors:
(1) The NSPCC asked each police force in England and Wales via a Freedom of Information request. A total of 42 out of 43 forces responded. Only Greater Manchester police force said they could not respond to the FOI request. The questions were: 1. How many people were convicted or cautioned for committing a sex offence against an under-18-year-old by your police force last year? 2. Can you supply a gender and exact age breakdown for these offenders? 3. How many children (under 18) were victims of sex offences committed in your police force area last year? 4. Can you please supply a gender and exact age breakdown for these victims?
(2) There were 859 offences involving children aged four and under. Not all police forces gave a specific age or gender breakdown. (Some only gave age ranges).
(3) Source: Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Crime in England and Wales 2007/08.
(4) NSPCC Fresh Start is a centre dedicated to tackling child sexual abuse. Alongside our direct services to protect children and young people and to help them overcome this abuse, we conduct research, deliver training and provide other resources to help further learning on the subject. We also work in partnership with agencies such as the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)  and others.
(5) The Children's Charity exists to make grants for the benefit of children, their welfare, protection and care, and to support projects associated with tackling child abuse. The principal beneficiary of the charity this year was the NSPCC, which received funding to create and develop Fresh Start, a centre which will for the first time bring together a multitude of disciplines and resources to deal with child sex abuse and abusers.
(6) Similar issues exist in Northern Ireland where the PSNI similarly are unable to disaggregate offences against children from all sexual offences.
(7) Three-quarters (72%) of sexually abused children did not tell anyone about the abuse at the time. 27% told someone later. Around a third (31%) still had not told anyone about their experience(s) by early adulthood. (Cawson et al., 2000, Child Maltreatment in the UK: A Study of the Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect, NSPCC, p.83)