Former Minister for Children and Young People and MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, Tim Loughton MP, has called for the Government to step up its response to child sexual exploitation and develop a truly cross-party response.
Tim made the comments during a House of Commons debate about older teenagers at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation.
Tim was one of several MPs to speak during Thursday’s debate, which heard calls for action to tackle the huge number of sexual offences against 16 and 17 year-olds that go unreported and unpunished every year.
The MP said:
“The Government have a good record in starting to approach this issue. The child sexual exploitation action plan, which I launched back in November 2011, has produced many practical results. The Home Office produced a CSE report earlier this year. Since last year, there have been new sentencing guidelines for courts, enabling courts to give individuals more severe sentences in cases where the victims were particularly vulnerable, such as 16 or 17-year-olds.
“Much has happened, but much more needs to happen. The Government need to step up their response to this huge problem with a truly cross-Government strategy. In this debate, we have rightly raised serious concerns about 16 or 17-year-olds, but that is only part of a much bigger issue that we are only just beginning to get on top of.
“It is a subject I am deeply concerned about, which is why I so determined when Minister for Children and Young People to establish an inquiry into historic acts of child abuse.”
The debate was supported by national charity The Children’s Society, which provides a range of services to help young people cope with the trauma of sexual exploitation – and to protect those at risk before they become victims
Teenage girls aged 16 and 17 are more likely to be a victim of a sexual offence than any other age group, with almost one in ten saying they experienced a sexual offence in the last year.
And yet research by The Children’s Society shows that police take no action against perpetrators in more than three quarters of reported sexual crimes against teenagers in this age group. Only a tiny proportion of cases result in successful prosecutions.
Analysis from the charity found that nearly one in ten girls aged 16 and 17 said they had experienced a sexual offence in the last year - equivalent to 50,000 across the country. In contrast, data from 30 police forces in England, suggests that only 4,900 crimes of sexual nature have been reported in the last year where the victim was 16 or 17.
The most vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds are often at highest risk of being preyed upon. People seeking to exploit them will go to great lengths to target vulnerable young people, using gifts, affection, money, alcohol, drugs - or the false promise of love. Victims are often teenagers in the care system, with backgrounds of abuse and neglect, learning disabilities or with mental health problems.