Key takeaways from grooming gangs report
A review into abuse carried out by grooming gangs in England and Wales has been published. The government asked Baroness Casey to carry out the audit, examining existing data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse, in January. Here are some of its key findings and recommendations.
Lack of reliable data
The report highlights flaws in data collection, which it says means it is not possible to assess the scale of the issue.It cites figures from the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Dataset which identified around 700 recorded offences of group-based child sexual exploitation in 2023. However, the report says this is highly unlikely to reflect the true scale of the issue, given this crime is under-reported and suffers from confusing and inconsistently applied definitions.
Ethnicity of perpetrators
One key data gap highlighted by the report is on ethnicity, which is described as "appalling". It says the ethnicity of perpetrators is "shied away from" and still not recorded in two-thirds of cases, meaning it is not possible to draw conclusions at a national level. However, the report says there is enough evidence from police data in three areas - Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire - to show disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic background amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation.It adds that the significant number of perpetrators of Asian ethnicity identified in local reviews and high-profile prosecutions across the country also warrants further examination. The report calls for the collection of ethnicity and nationality data to be mandatory for all suspects in child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation cases, while it says the government should also work with police to improve the collection of ethnicity data for victims.
National inquiry
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accepted the report's recommendation that there should be a full national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales.The PM had previously dismissed calls for a national inquiry, arguing the issues had already been examined in a seven-year investigation by Prof Alexis Jay, which concluded in 2022. Instead the government commissioned Baroness Casey's review and unveiled plans for five local inquiries - to be held in Oldham and four other areas yet to be named.But her report recommends both a national police operation to review cases of child exploitation not acted on, as well as a national inquiry. It says this would be overseen by an Independent Commission, with full powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence, and should be time-limited and targeted. The inquiry would review cases of failures by local services to identify areas where investigations should be instigated and coordinate a series of targeted local investigations.
Age of consent
The report also recommends tightening the law in England and Wales so adults who have sex with a child under 16 are always charged with rape.Despite the age of consent being 16, it says there are too many examples of child sexual exploitation cases being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a teenager has been "in love with" or "consented to" sex with the perpetrator.
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