Press Releases

09 February 2009

ChildLine counselled more children for sexual abuse last year than at any other time in its 22 year history. They included 465 children aged seven or under and nearly 6000 of these calls related to rape.

In 2007/08 13,237 children were counselled for sexual abuse by ChildLine, the 24 hour confidential helpline for children and young people. This is up from 8,637 in 2004/05 - a 53 per cent increase over three years. During the same three year period, the overall number of children counselled also rose but by only 26 per cent. 

The increase meant that ChildLine counselled on average one child aged seven and under a day for sexual abuse during 2007/08. Most children counselled for sexual abuse - 61 per cent (6,681) - were aged twelve to fifteen years.

Of the 13,237 children counselled for sexual abuse by ChildLine in 2007/08 the vast majority were abused by someone they knew:

• 59 per cent said they had been sexually abused by a family member
• 29 per cent said they had been sexually abused by someone else known to them
• 4 per cent said they had been sexually abused by a stranger
• 8457 were girls (64 per cent)
• 4780 were boys (36 per cent)
  

Since ChildLine joined with the NSPCC three years ago, the NSPCC has enabled ChildLine to expand its service to try and meet the huge demand from young people, and now has more volunteer counsellors, more bases, and answers more calls than ever before. Nevertheless, ChildLine is still only able to answer two-thirds of the 2.3m calls it receives every year.  

In response, the NSPCC is urgently calling on the public to donate to the charity's Child's Voice Appeal (www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk ), a three-year £50m fundraising campaign launched last year. The Appeal will help expand both ChildLine and the NSPCC Helpline - for adults concerned about the safety or welfare of a child.

This is needed in addition to £30m already pledged by the UK government, which recognises the importance of expanding the NSPCC's helpline services.

Head of ChildLine, Sue Minto commented: "Every day, ChildLine receives dozens of harrowing calls about sexual abuse from children, some of whom are very young indeed. Children phone to talk in confidence about suffering different kinds of sexual abuse, the vast majority of the abusers being people they know, either within their families, or the wider family circle. They dare not speak about it, or ask for help, for fear of the consequences. Many of them have been threatened or intimidated into silence. 

"Some calls about sex abuse include details of other extreme forms of abuse like being hit, tied up, threatened with their life and being plied with drugs. Many are less severe but still devastating for the child.

"We believe children are calling ChildLine partly because of awareness campaigns targeted at children like the NSPCC "Don't Hide It" campaign. Child sex abuse storylines on programmes like Eastenders also encourage children to speak out.

"As a result, more children now understand what sexual abuse is and are increasingly willing to turn to ChildLine for help. More ChildLine counsellors over the last few years has also meant more children helped and this is reflected in these latest figures."

ChildLine founder and President Esther Rantzen said: "These tragic calls come from children who have found the courage to ring a ChildLine counsellor. Yet there are many children whose cries for help cannot be answered because ChildLine simply does not have enough resources to answer every call. Our nightmare is the child who plucks up the courage to ring, fails to get through, and never dares try again. Imagine the distress of a child who cannot get through to a counsellor before she is raped again that night. 

"As a ChildLine counsellor, I have experienced first hand these heart-wrenching calls from children who feel utterly alone until they make the call, I know the hope we provide these children literally saves precious young lives.

"ChildLine counsellors provide in-depth counselling to children for a whole range of problems from physical or sexual abuse through to worries about exams, pregnancy and bullying. ChildLine is on hand 24 hours seven days a week for any child whatever their problem. We therefore urgently need to expand the service so that every child's cry for help can be answered."

People can help answer a child's cry for help by donating to the NSPCC's Child's Voice Appeal  by visiting www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk  Anyone worried about the welfare of a child can call the NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000.

ENDS

Please contact the media office on 0207 825 2835 or out of hours mobile 07976 206 625

Notes to Editors

About the Child's Voice Appeal
The Child's Voice Appeal, which launched on 22 September 2008, aims to raise £50m so that the NSPCC's vital helplines can answer many more cries for help. To date the appeal has raised £13m.

The funds will mean that ChildLine's volunteers can counsel 500,000 more calls every year; children will be able to choose how they access ChildLine's help - by phone, online or by text; the NSPCC Helpline can grow by over 60 per cent to counsel 18,000 more adults a year who have concerns about a child; and counsellors can provide personalised help by email to nearly five times as many concerned adults.

The government has pledged £30m over four years towards the expansion of ChildLine and the NSPCC Helpline, but the NSPCC needs the support of the public to raise a further £50m through the Child's Voice Appeal, to make its vision a reality.

Everyone can support the Child's Voice Appeal at www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk

About the NSPCC
The NSPCC is the UK's leading children charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children. The NSPCC's purpose is to end cruelty to children FULL STOP. Its vision is of a society where all children are loved, valued and able to fulfil their potential. The NSPCC runs 180 projects and services across the United Kingdom and Channel Islands, including ChildLine, the UK's free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people. The NSPCC helps over 10,000 children and their families every year.

Calls to ChildLine about sexual abuse
"All names and identifying details have been changed to protect the identity of the callers."

Stacy (aged 7) said her step dad is touching her where she doesn't want'. It happens when her mum is out at work.

Aimee (7) said she was asked to play 'touch, touch' games of 'his privates' and doesn't want to any more. It's someone in her family and she is scared to tell anyone who it is. In the end she decided she will tell her mum.

Ruby (7) said her uncle was putting his hands on her & it was making her feel sad. She wants it to stop but doesn't think she can tell mum.

David (10): 'My dad sometimes takes me out after school. Mum doesn't know but he always comes with another man and they touch me. It hurts, but I can't stop them. Dad said he will kill mum if I tell anyone.'

Tracey (14) said:  'I'm calling about my dad.'  There was a long pause, and then she said:  'My dad does things to me.  I don't like it.  It's been going on for a year when my mum goes out to work.  It makes me feel dirty.'  She hadn't told anyone at all about it before.

Kelly (15) rang to say that her mum's boyfriend was 'coming on to her'.  She said: 'I told my mum, but she said that I was leading him on.' Kelly went on to say that she was really frightened about what would happen when he came home later that night. With Kelly's permission, the counsellor contacted social services on her behalf, and they arranged for her to stay with relatives. ChildLine subsequently heard that social services and the child protection team were undertaking an investigation into Kelly's situation.

Marie (14) had run away from home and called ChildLine about her dad, who had been sexually abusing her since she was 11. Every time it happened he told her 'if you tell anyone I'm going to kill you'. She wanted to tell her mum what was happening but was afraid of what her mum might do. Marie had run away from home several times before, but always went back because: 'I've got no money and I don't know where to go anyway.' Marie agreed that the police could pick her up from the phone box.

Source: NSPCC

About sexual abuse calls to ChildLine

Of the 13,237 children and young people aged 18yrs and under who called ChildLine about sexual abuse in 2007/08:

• For 3,249 (33 per cent) the abuse was categorised as sexual touching
• For 649 (7 per cent) the abuse was categorised as sexual harassment
• For 522 (5 per cent) the abuse was categorised as indecency 
• For 156 (2 per cent) the abuse was categorised as organised abuse
• For 5925 (60 per cent) the abuse was categorised as rape 
• For 244 (2.5 per cent) the abuse was categorised as incest 
• For 3,442 (26 per cent) of calls no specific data was available.

Please note that some children counselled were recorded under more than one category

About sexual abuse

Sexual abuse occurs when a child or young person is forced or enticed to take part in sexual activities by an adult or other young person. Abuse takes place, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.

31,392 individuals are currently registered as sex offenders (against both children and adults) in England & Wales. ( http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/public-protection-working?version=1 )