child sexual abuse – Page 2 – The NEN

Campaign being launched in Capital to keep children safe from sexual abuse

A campaign to help protect young children from sexual abuse is being launched in Edinburgh with an online event for professionals who work with children and families in the city.

The year-long campaign is being delivered by NSPCC Scotland, the Edinburgh Child Protection Committee and a wide range of partners across the city to spread the NSPCC’s Talk PANTS message.

Talk PANTS gives parents, carers and professionals advice on how to have simple, age-appropriate conversations with children to help keep them safe from sexual abuse.

With the help of a colourful animated dinosaur, called Pantosaurus, it helps children understand that their body belongs to them, that they have a right to say no and they should tell a safe adult they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried.

Over the coming year, local PANTS champions will be trained to deliver the campaign messages and resources to other professionals and families through webinars and workshops, and awareness raising events will be held across Edinburgh for parents, carers and children.

The online launch, which will run from 2pm to 4pm on Thursday, October 5, will explore how we can better prevent and respond to child sexual abuse, using PANTS, and the next steps of the campaign. The online event is open to all professionals who work with children and families in Edinburgh, and it will take place on Microsoft Teams.

NSPCC Scotland’s Assistant Director Karen Head will introduce the event, and this will be followed with the personal story from a mum whose daughter was sexually abused.

There will also be speeches from Stuart Allardyce, Director of Lucy Faithfull Foundation / Stop It Now! Scotland, Laura Brown, Edinburgh Child Protection Lead Officer and NSPCC Scotland’s Local Campaigns Manager Carla Malseed.

Carla Malseed, Local Campaigns Manager at the NSPCC, said: “Each year in Scotland, Police record more than 5,000 sexual offences committed against children. It is crucial that we do all we can to help prevent abuse from happening in the first place.

“The Talk PANTS campaign is about helping start difficult, but vital, conversations with children from a young age about sexual abuse and their right to be safe.

“We don’t talk about sex or use scary words but focus on rules that help children understand important messages, like their body belongs to them and they should tell an adult if they’re upset or worried.”

NSPCC Scotland’s Assistant Director Karen Head, said: “We are delighted to be launching this campaign in Edinburgh to help prevent sexual abuse and keep children across the city safer.

“The Talk PANTS message and Pantosaurus animation makes it much easier for parents, carers and professionals to tackle this topic in a straightforward, fun and light-hearted way that children can understand and easily put into practice.”

Lillian Cringles, Chair of the Edinburgh Child Protection Committee, said: “This campaign will help families and professionals have these important conversations with children about their bodies and help keep them safe.

“I urge as many professionals, parents and carers as possible to come along to our events in Edinburgh over the next few months.”

The first event for parents, carers and children aged 3-11, will be held at the McDonald Road Library on Tuesday, October 17 from 3 to 4.30pm.

Also, a PANTS coffee morning will be held at the new NSPCC Community Hub in Leith on Wednesday, November 1, from 10.30am until 11.30am.

Other events throughout the year will promote the campaign materials and resources for parents, which includes a British Sign Language PANTS video, a Talking PANTS with Makaton guide which is designed to be used to deliver the PANTS message to children with Additional Support Needs and a Pantosaurus film. There are also resources for teachers to use in primary schools.

To book a place at the online launch event, visit: Edinburgh, Talk PANTS launch event for professionals Tickets, Thu 5 Oct 2023 at 14:00 | Eventbrite

Find out more about Edinburgh Talk PANTS here.

Parents and professionals can also find out how to Talk PANTS here. The adult guides include ones for foster carers and parents with learning disabilities.

Anyone with concerns about the welfare of a child can call the NSPCC’s free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000 for advice.

Sunak to crack down on grooming gangs

Evil grooming gangs who target children and young women will be stamped out under new plans unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today

Evil grooming gangs who target children and young women will be stamped out under new plans unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today (Monday 3rd April).

A new Grooming Gangs Taskforce will see specialist officers parachuted in to assist police forces with live child sexual exploitation and grooming investigations to bring more of these despicable criminals to justice.

Led by the police and supported by the National Crime Agency, the taskforce will be made up of officers with extensive experience of undertaking grooming gang investigations. They will provide crucial support to forces across the country to root out grooming gangs and put more perpetrators behind bars.

Data analysts will work alongside the taskforce using cutting edge data and intelligence to identify the types of criminals who carry out these offences, helping police forces across the country catch offenders who might otherwise be missed. This will also include police recorded ethnicity data to make sure suspects cannot evade justice because of cultural sensitivities.

This will include better data on the make-up of grooming gangs, including ethnicity, to make sure suspects cannot hide behind cultural sensitivities as a way to evade justice.

The Prime Minister will launch the taskforce later today. To mark this, he will be in Leeds and Greater Manchester to meet survivors, local police partners and members of the new taskforce.

Speaking ahead of this, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The safety of women and girls is paramount. For too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women. We will stop at nothing to stamp out these dangerous gangs.”

Alongside the new taskforce, the Prime Minister has pledged to make sure grooming gang members and their ring leaders receive the toughest possible sentences.

Legislation will be introduced to make being the leader of or involved in a grooming gang a statutory aggravating factor during sentencing. This reflects the Government’s unwavering commitment to make sure these offenders face the toughest sentences for their crimes and the longest time behind bars.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, said: “Grooming gangs are a scourge on our society and I want to send a clear message to anyone who exploits vulnerable children that they will face the full weight of the law.

“This builds on the extensive action this Government has already taken to introduce tougher sentencing, and the reforms introduced last week in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to keep the most dangerous offenders behind bars, while making sure victims get the support they need at all times.”

Today’s announcement follows on from the Home Secretary’s commitment to bring in mandatory reporting for adults working with children if they suspect or identify that child is being abused. By ensuring people speak out if they have concerns, authorities can stop the abuse, put perpetrators behind bars and get victims the support they need much sooner.

Mandatory Reporting was one the key recommendations in the important Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which gave a voice to thousands of courageous survivors. Today’s announcement shows how seriously the Government is taking the Inquiry’s recommendations.

Speaking in response to the Government’s announcement on mandatory reporting, Professor Alexis Jay OBE, Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, and Author, Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, said: “The Prime Minister’s statement today places a renewed focus on tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by organised networks.

“I welcome these announcements, some of which reflect the recommendations of the Inquiry’s own report on child sexual exploitation in 2022. The commitment to Mandatory Reporting is very encouraging, and I look forward to working with the Government to ensure that the full package of the Inquiry’s recommendations in its Final Report is taken forward to better protect children from sexual abuse in the future.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Child sexual abuse is one of the most horrific crimes facing our society, it devastates victims, families and whole communities.

“The protection of children is a collective effort. Every adult must be supported to call out child sexual abuse without fear.

“And the despicable abusers must be brought to justice. They should not be able to hide. And they must face the full force of the law for their crimes.

“That’s why I’m introducing a mandatory reporting duty and launching a call for evidence. We must address the failures identified by the Inquiry and take on board the views of the thousands of victims and survivors who contributed to its findings.

“I would encourage everyone to engage with the process once it starts – it is important to have a national conversation about this to shine a light on this terrible – but too often hidden – crime.”

Alongside the mandatory reporting duty, we are bolstering support for the NSPCC’s whistleblowing helpline, as well as their public helpline, giving professionals and members of the public a voice to raise concerns about children, or about child grooming in their community.

Campaigners call on Scottish Government to develop national strategy to prevent child sexual abuse

Stop It Now! Scotland and NSPCC Scotland are calling on the Scottish Government to develop a national strategy to tackle child sexual abuse that focuses on prevention to make the country a safer place to grow up.

The two charities hosted an event in partnership with the Scottish Parliament this week (Wednesday, March 15) with leading experts in the field.

They discussed the devastating harms and long-lasting impact that sexual abuse can have on victims, that punishment alone will not eradicate this problem and what we can do to prevent children being abused in the first place. They also talked about the next steps we need to take to guarantee Scotland is the safest country for children to grow up.

They are urging the Scottish Government to develop a comprehensive and coordinated national approachto prevent child sexual abuse, which involves health, police, education, community safety, children’s services, social services, housing and the wider community. The child protection charities say it is vital that everyone understands what child sexual abuse is and knows how they can be part of preventing it.

A review of UK data revealed that 15 per cent of females and 5 per cent of males will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 16.

This means at least 80,000 children in Scotland will have been affected by this issue before they leave high school. Although this is thought to be an under-representation of the scale of the problem and the actual number of children who have experienced sexual abuse in Scotland is not known.

The charities say that to understand the numbers of children in Scotland affected and the scale of the suffering it is crucial that a prevalence survey is conducted.

Professor Elizabeth Letourneau, Director of the Moore Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, School of Public Health, John Hopkins University, said: “Child sexual abuse affects about one in nine children – 12 per cent of all children – globally. Victims are at risk of immediate harms, such as fear, injury, and pregnancy, and a broad array of serious health problems can emerge and last across the lifespan.

“Only one in five cases of child sexual abuse are ever reported to the authorities. This means that we miss at least 80 per cent of cases, so punishment will never be enough if we are to effectively address this public health problem.

“I believe our failure to focus on prevention stems from a general misgiving that child sexual abuse really is not preventable. That people who are at risk of perpetrating abuse are monsters and their behaviour cannot be predicted or prevented, and they will only respond to punishment.

“But we know this is not true. We already have good evidence that we can effectively prevent child sexual abuse perpetration.”

Pat Branigan, Assistant Director of NSPCC’s Together for Childhood, said: “One of the most important messages from today is that child sexual abuse is preventable and not inevitable.

“The ultimate goal is to develop a framework, based on evidence of what we know already works, which can be used to support agencies and organisations to work together and prevent child sexual abuse in communities.

“We need to create strong local partnerships between social care, schools, health, voluntary groups, the police and communities that focus on preventing people from offending, and empower and educate children and adults to recognise the signs of abuse and how they can report their concerns.

“Ultimately it will not be governments, experts or professionals who eradicate child sexual abuse, it will be individuals, families and communities.”

Stuart Allardyce, Director, Lucy Faithfull Foundation / Stop It Now! Scotland, said: “Last year we helped 7,000 people across the UK through our Helpline. Not all were adults worried about their own sexual thoughts, feelings and behaviour, but around half of them were.

“We also had adults who were worried about another adult, or because they had found evidence their partner has been seeking out child sexual abuse material online.

“We believe that if you build prevention initiatives, people will come – professionals, protective adults, but also those who worried about the risk that they may present to children. We can no longer say that people won’t use self-help prevention resources, because the evidence is that they can and do and that prevention works.”

Childlight, based at the University of Edinburgh, also launched the first comprehensive global data repository this week, which will look at all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), with the aim of being able to show the scale and nature of this abuse.

Children and young people can contact Childline for free, confidential support and advice 24 hours a day online at www.childline.org.uk or on the phone on 0800 1111

Anyone with concerns about a child’s wellbeing can contact the NSPCC Helpline on help@nspcc.org.uk. The NSPCC practitioners provide free and confidential help and advice and can take appropriate steps to help keep children safe. If a child is in immediate danger, please call 999.

The NSPCC also has advice and resources for parents, carers on how to have simple, age appropriate conversations with children to help prevent sexual abuse through their Talk PANTS campaign. This helps children understand that their body belongs to them and to recognise when something is not okay and how to tell someone.

Charities and Scottish Parliament host online event to improve how we prevent child sexual abuse in Scotland

Stop It Now! Scotland and NSPCC Scotland are today (Wednesday, March 15, 2023) hosting ‘Public Health Approaches to Preventing Child Sexual Abuse’
The online event will look at the evidence on preventing sexual abuse and what could be done in Scotland to better protect children before abuse begins and to help with their recovery

Stop It Now! Scotland and the NSPCC are calling on the Scottish Government to develop a national strategy to tackle child sexual abuse that focuses on prevention to make the country a safer place to grow up.

The two charities, which are today hosting an event in partnership with the Scottish Parliament, say working together to stop the abuse from happening in the first place will prevent the devastating impact it has on the mental health of children and adult survivors.

A review of UK data revealed that 15 per cent of females and 5 per cent of males will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 16. This means at least 80,000 children in Scotland will have been affected by this issue before they leave high school. Although this is thought to be an under-representation of the scale of the problem and the actual number of children who have experienced sexual abuse in Scotland is not known.

The charities say that to understand the numbers of children in Scotland affected and the scale of the suffering it is crucial that a prevalence survey is conducted. At the event, leading experts will discuss current evidence on preventing child sexual abuse and explore the next steps needed to make Scotland the safest country for children to grow up.

Joanne Smith, NSPCC Scotland’s Policy and Public Affairs Manager, said: “Child sexual abuse has a devastating impact on people’s lives.

“The response, to date, has focused largely on bringing perpetrators to justice and providing some children with therapy and support. But we believe that as a society our focus should be on preventing child sexual abuse before it occurs, before people at risk of abusing become offenders, and before potential victims become actual victims. Understanding child sexual abuse, and what causes it, is a vital step towards developing effective prevention strategies.”

Stuart Allardyce, Director, Lucy Faithfull Foundation / Stop It Now! Scotland, said: “We are calling on the Scottish Government to carry out a dedicated prevalence survey to identify the levels of sexual offending against children in Scotland, alongside a national strategy for tackling child sexual abuse.

“We know that sexual abuse has an enormous impact on the mental health outcomes for children and adult survivors and the economic costs for the criminal justice system.

“We believe sexual harm towards children and young people could be reduced if we focused more on prevention, including therapy being offered to adults who are worried about their sexual thoughts and feelings towards children.”

Childlight, based at the University of Edinburgh, also launches the first comprehensive global data repository today, which will look at all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), with the aim of being able to show the scale and nature of this abuse.

The international team, made up of experienced individuals from academia, the private sector, law enforcement and non-governmental organisations, will produce an annual report, global dashboard and index with the data that can be used by tech companies, law enforcement agencies and those who work in child protection so they can take action to prevent CSEA.

Speakers at the online event will include:

Professor Elizabeth Letourneau, Moore Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, School of Public Health, John Hopkins University
Pat Branigan, Assistant Director – Together For Childhood – NSPCC
Stuart Allardyce, Director, Lucy Faithfull Foundation / Stop It Now! Scotland
MSP Clare Haughey, Minister for Children and Young People

Children and young people can contact Childline for free, confidential support and advice 24 hours a day online at www.childline.org.uk or on the phone on 0800 1111.

NSPCC: Talk PANTS next week!

NSPCC will host a virtual event next week to celebrate success of campaign to help keep children safe from sexual abuse

NSPCC will host a virtual event on Wednesday, September 14 to celebrate the positive impact and legacy of Talk PANTS! Campaign
Event will coincide with Pantosaurus’ birthday

Almost 300 carers and professionals in the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland have been trained to communicate important messages to parents and children that will help prevent sexual abuse.

They have been trained as part of the Inter Islands Talk PANTS! campaign, which was launched almost a year ago by the NSPCC and the islands’ protection committees.

The NSPCC’s Talk PANTS! resources give parents, carers and professionals advice on how to have simple, age-appropriate conversations with children about sexual abuse. With the help of a colourful animated character, a friendly dinosaur called Pantosaurus, it helps children understand that their body belongs to them and to recognise when something is not okay, and how to tell someone if they are upset or worried.

As part of this campaign, the resources were translated into Scottish Gaelic and Pantosaurus toured the islands, visiting the HebCelt Festival in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, the Cunningsburgh Show in Shetland and the Orkney Agricultural Show. In Orkney, 200 children coloured in Pantosaurus’ pants on the show day alone, and NSPCC staff and volunteers distributed thousands of parents guides and talked to families about the Talk PANTS! resources.

During the past year, campaign activities and events have included soft play sessions in the Western Isles run by the Rape Crisis team and the colourful and entertaining Pantosaurus music video being shown at cinemas on Orkney and in Stornoway.

Over a thousand Pantosaurus and the Power of PANTS books have been delivered to local libraries, and health visitors have handed out the paperback version to families, childminders and teachers to encourage them to read the book to as many children as possible.

The NSPCC also recently created Talk PANTS! resources in partnership with the Makaton Charity, which use symbols and signs to help communicate the messages to people with communications difficulties.

These resources will enable parents and teachers of children with a range of educational needs to share the Talk PANTS! message so they can understand the PANTS rules. Talk PANTS! resources are also available in British Sign Language and can be downloaded for free on the NSPCC website.

Many members of the islands Protection Committees have been instrumental in the campaign’s success including Police Scotland, Rape Crisis, Early Learning and Childcare in Orkney and the army cadets in Shetland to name just a few.

To thank everyone involved and celebrate the campaign’s achievements to date and its legacy, the NSPCC is hosting a virtual event on Wednesday, September 14, with fellow members of its steering group and protection committees.

Guest speaker Rachel Wallace, NSPCC Local Campaigns manager for the Midlands, in England, will explain more about the Talk PANTS! Makaton resources and participants will be shown a selection of stunning photos from NSPCC Scotland’s tour of the islands on the day, which also falls on Pantosaurus’ birthday.

Tam Baillie, Chair of Public Protection Committees in Orkney and Shetland and the Western Isles, said: “It has been great to see how each of the islands has embraced the PANTS campaign, working in partnership with the NSPCC.

“The enthusiasm and inventiveness of different island approaches has brought a wide range of activities all targeted at getting simple messages across in a fun way to young children about the importance of keeping themselves safe.

“The use of cartoons, dance and song has made it engaging with children, parents and professionals, and it has been an inspiration to be part of the joint efforts. We are all looking forward to celebrating the work done and hearing about how it will endure through ongoing legacy work.”

Mubashar Khaliq, Local Campaigns Manager at the NSPCC, said: “Each year in Scotland, Police record more than 5,000 sexual offences committed against children. We started this campaign because it’s crucial that we do all we can to help prevent abuse from happening in the first place.

“Talk PANTS is about helping start difficult, but vital, conversations with children from a young age about sexual abuse and their right to be safe. We don’t talk about sex or use scary words but focus on keeping safe and rules that help children understand important messages, like their body belongs to them and they should tell an adult if they’re upset or worried.”

Gail Sayles, Local Campaigns Manager for NSPCC Scotland, said: “It has been so wonderful to see our Talk PANTS messaging reaching people in some of the most remote parts of the UK. It was great to chat with families at the events who already knew about our campaign, either from school or their local nursery. Many of the children would sing the song at us and give Pantosaurus a high five!

“The Power of Pants book is already a firm bedtime favourite with many families, and parents told us they were so pleased to be given a copy. Everyone also valued the Gaelic resources and I felt so proud that we had been able to deliver on a need that was prized so highly.

“This campaign has made a real difference and we hope that continues in the future too. It feels like we have lit a spark on the islands, for sure.”

Professionals and volunteers working with children and families who would like to attend this free event on Wednesday, September 14 from 3-5pm can book a place, visit: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inter-island-pants-campaign-celebration-legacy-event-tickets-388530684737

To find out more about Talk PANTS and access resources and tools to help keep children safe from abuse, visit www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

To watch the Pantosaurus video visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lL07JOGU5o

Anyone with concerns about the welfare of a child can call the NSPCC’s free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000 for advice.

Special taskforce arrests 39 for online child sexual abuse offences

A new taskforce set up to tackle online child sexual abuse has already made 39 arrests in its first four-weeks of operation from 1st September.

Of the 39, 37 resulted in the recovery of material relating to online child sexual abuse and exploitation.

All of those arrested were men ranging in age from 15 to 76 years old.

Dozens of children were identified as being at risk or potentially at risk and have now been protected.

Internet grooming and online child sexual abuse (CSA) remains a priority for Police Scotland.

Assistant Chief Constable Judi Heaton, Lead for Major Crime, Public Protection and Local Crime, said: “Recorded crimes for online offending have risen substantially in line with our determined and recent proactive work to uncover this hidden criminality.

“Online offenders may think they are anonymous, and they may not comprehend the terrible, devastating and lifelong impact their actions have on children. But there is no excuse for their actions. Online images of child abuse and exploitation are not virtual, they show the very real abuse of a real child.

“We are determined to improve our response, invest in resources and latest technologies, to track down predators and abusers, and to make sure they face the full consequences of their actions.

“Tackling online CSA requires a cross partnership effort not only through enforcement but also on deterrence by means of offender programmes. And we are also working with the National Police Chiefs Council on ways we can prevent this criminality on a larger scale.”

From next week Police Scotland will run the next phase of its online child sexual abuse campaign #GetHelpOrGetCaught, which signposts offenders or potential offenders to Stop It Now!Scotland for help to stop or prevent offending.

A total of 1,036 online child sexual abuse crimes were recorded between April and September, according to Police Scotland’s 2010-21 Quarter 2 Performance Report, an increase of 18.4% on the previous year and 35.8% above the five year mean.

Coronation Street to air historic sex abuse storyline

Coronation Street is to explore the devastating effects of historic child sexual abuse within a family.

Gemma Winter’s world is set to be torn apart when it is revealed that her twin brother Paul was sexually abused by their stepdad Kel.

Continue reading Coronation Street to air historic sex abuse storyline