Child sexual exploitation- Back in the news

The sad fact is Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) has never gone away.

Recently it has again become headline news, not least as a result of Elon Musk’s largely inaccurate and ill-informed interventions into the debate, which were then picked up and pressed by commentators and politicians

The national narrative has always focused on high-profile cases in Rochdale, Rotherham and other towns where groups of men, colloquially referred to as grooming gangs, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping over a thousand girls, some as young as 11, between 1997 and 2013.

Several local inquiries and reviews concluded that there were failures on multiple levels to adequately investigate and take action to prevent these heinous crimes. Those conclusions were invariably accepted. However, despite much improved knowledge over the last decade of how these gangs operate, and much more focus from the authorities on intervening to prevent CSE and bringing the perpetrators to justice, undoubtedly the scourge of predatory men grooming young girls for sex continues.

Several high-profile politicians and campaigners argue that it is these grooming gangs that pose the greatest threat to the safety of children. What Mr Musk and others ignore, whether deliberately or otherwise, is that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which analysed the experiences of more than 6,000 survivors of child sexual abuse, concluded that a far greater threat is posed to children by members of each child’s family and their close acquaintances. That chilling statistic is backed up by Home Office research from 2020.

Someone who has been involved with the issue probably more than any other individual in recent years is Professor Alexis Jay, former chief social work adviser to the Scottish government. In 2013 Rotherham Council commissioned Professor Jay to lead an independent inquiry into CSE in the town. The Jay report published its recommendations in August 2014, concluding that an estimated 1,400 children had been sexually abused in Rotherham over 16 years.

Professor Jay was then a natural choice, to step in and lead IICSA, which produced its final report in October 2022. That report contained 20 recommendations for tackling child sexual abuse in the future. However, since publication of the report there has been very little progress in development and/or implementation of any of those recommendations.

In late January 2025, Professor Jay, together with the IICSA secretary, John O’Brien, appeared before the Home Affairs select committee.  Professor Jay condemned “an inconsequential and insubstantial response” by the previous Tory government to the report and its recommendations. Professor Jay was already on record as stating that the calls for a further full national enquiry should not be heeded.

Under questioning as to what the absolute priorities in implementation should be, Professor Jay was at pains to insist that all recommendations were important, but she listed three matters as of utmost importance. These were: mandatory reporting of CSE; a national financial compensation scheme for abuse victims; and the creation of a Child Protection Authority.

In addition, Professor Jay made it clear that no serious case could be made for yet another full inquiry. All that was required was implementation of the recommendations in IICSA’s report, which had cost £186m to produce and was published as recently as October 2022.

Whilst sensibly resisting calls for another national inquiry, the new government has already indicated it intends to legislate for mandatory reporting. This is an encouraging start. It has also announced the setting up of initially five further local inquiries into the problems of CSE (as there are likely to be regional differences in what form CSE might take).

We will be keeping a close watch on these, in order to report on further developments as they occur. In the writer’s view, the best way to help the many thousands of children being sexually abused every year is to adopt and implement the recommendations of IICSA. What is certain is that the present government will be constantly scrutinized and held closely to account on how it addresses these issues