Response to IICSA Report on Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks.
“Children are sexually exploited by networks in all parts of England and Wales in the most degrading and destructive ways. Each of these acts is a crime. This investigation has revealed extensive failures by local authorities and police forces to keep pace with the pernicious and changing problem of the sexual exploitation of children by networks.” – Independent Inquiry to Child Sexual Abuse conclusion.
Responding to the report, Sarah Champion said:
“Today’s report finally recognises the horror of grooming gangs and that victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation (CSE) have for so long been let down by local authorities, government and law enforcement who failed to take the bold and decisive action needed to protect children from abuse.’
‘The report describes a culture that forced survivors of CSE to fight to be believed. Those who were heard were made to feel as though they had brought exploitation upon themselves. They then had to relive their trauma in court, where they were brutalised by an adversarial process that lacked the empathy to support them.’
‘I have the utmost respect and admiration for the brave victims and survivors who shared their experiences with us during the public hearings. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for them to relive their trauma and I want to thank them for engaging with this Inquiry.’
‘This is the eighteenth report published by IICSA, costing tens of millions of pounds each year, but child abuse is still flourishing and little real change has taken place. This must be the moment that we see urgent action to prevent further abuse happening.’
‘I’m pleased the report includes some of the recommendations I have been fighting for: collection and sharing of robust data on CSE, unregulated care homes must be banned for all children under the age of 18 and a national toolkit for identifying CSE.’
‘However, it is disappointing that my other key recommendations were not included; local authorities must take urgent steps to improve the accessibility of CSE support services to children from BME communities, promote closer interaction between the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, and do not simply accept that adversarial court proceedings must further brutalise victims of abuse.’
‘I urge the Government to accept the report and recommendations in full and put in place the necessary resources to implement them. CSE is not inevitable, and it must be stopped.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sarah Champion was a core participant in the IICSA inquiry into institutional responses to the sexual exploitation of children by organised networks.
Sarah Champion is the Labour MP for Rotherham and a passionate campaigner for preventing child abuse and violence against women and girls.
Sarah Champion MP is a member of the External Reference Group for Home Office report into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation: Characteristics of Offending. The group was intended to provide expert advice and scrutiny on the paper.
More information about the report can be found here:
The report is available here:
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/investigation/cs-organised-networks